Fast Forward
by Mix Matcher
Summary: Fast forward 6 years in the future when the older girls all have families & Megan is going through most of the drama, MOST! Continuation of Uncle Roy & To Be Continued Put in Misc. 'cause it's barely about the actual characters in the manga anymore.
1. FF: I

**_6 years later_**

**Megan's POV  
**I walked into my room of our new house of the Furher's mansion. The older and younger twins were all grown up doing their own thing. I was going to be graduating high school at the age 16 with my friend Rayne. We decided to take two years off before we went off to college in Central. I sat down in front of my computer and put on my headset. I clicked on the chat to see where Rayne was.

"Hey Rayne you there?" I said.

"Right here Meggie" Rayne said popping on a side window.

"Dude you died your hair!" I said looking at her now black hair.

"I know doesn't it look great?" Rayne said running her fingers through her hair.

"Yea it does" I said.

"Hey where's you cell phone? Ozzie and I have been trying to call you" Rayne said.

"My cell phone? Aww hell hold one minute" I said yanking my headset off of my head. I ran into RJ's room where he was sitting on the floor playing with his toys. "Where's my phone?" I said.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Megan" The now 8 year old RJ said.

"Yes you do your little troll now give me my phone" I said sticking out my hand.

"I don't see why you have that anyway it's just you and Ozzie telling each other how much you love each other" RJ said handing the phone back to me.

"Stay out of my stuff or I'm going to kick you in the face" I said.

"Mom! Megan's threatening me!" RJ said

"Megan stop being mean to your brother!" Mama said from downstairs.

"Mama's boy" I said before walking back into my room and putting headset on.

"Hey RJ have your phone?" Rayne said.

"Yea and it's so weird he use to be such a nice baby" I said shaking my head.

"So the olders coming in for that lunch thing tomorrow?" Rayne said.

"Yep and I am super excited! I can't wait to see all of the babies! Flannery had a girl, Aqua had a boy, and Kari had a boy. I can't wait!" I said. "And please make sure Ozzie gets here on time." I added.

"Don't worry I've got it. Hey I'll talk to you later okay?" Rayne said.

"Yea I'll talk tomorrow" I said. "Bye Ray-Ray"

"Bye Meggie" Rayne said before we ended our chat. I couldn't wait to see my sisters again!

**Alex's POV  
**I turned on my heel again. "Do you have to follow me?"

"You are my muse." Megan answered. "And yes, I've got babysitter duties, meaning I have to take all the littler ones to the daycare center, so I need to get what I can, while I can."

Megan had started writing a series of crime novels known as the Anthony Bock series, based on me. She had access to all of my files & permission to follow me around, no matter how annoying. Not to mention, we still despise each other.

"Just pick up the kids & get out of my hair." I told her.

Megan picked up her speed so she could walk next to me. "Oh, come on, we could at least _try_ to get along. For the older girls."

"Emphasis on 'try!'" I replied.

Megan scoffed & walked into the office we had been forced to share. "It's not that bad. I should go if I want to get the triplets & Jamie."

"Oh, I see. Thatch got sent to another crisis area." I guessed. Thatch was very well paid, but only because he worked with deadly diseases & extreme emergencies.

"Yeah." Megan nodded & stood up. "Oh, damn. I have to get Devon & Marc, too."

"Way to go, forget about your nieces & nephews." I commented.

Megan hit me in the back of the head, which really hurts. "Fuck off."

**Kari's POV  
**"Morning, Aunt Kari." D.G. yelled, walking into the daycare with her little siblings & cousins.

"Morning guys." I called from the kitchen. "You wanna help me make enough blueberry muffins to hold a group of kids until lunch?"

Devon & Marc ran in almost immediately. "Oh, Aunt Kari, I wanna help." They turned to each other. "No, I'm helping her! No you're not."

"Am too!" Devon yelled in her brother's face.

"Are not!" Marc called back.

I looked up at D.G., who had hoisted herself up onto the counter. "Shouldn't you stop them? They are your little brother & sister."

"You're the adult." D.G. replied, smirking at the fighting kids. "Besides, I like watching them fight. It amuses me."

"You," I began, pointing at her, "are an evil little girl."

"Don't flatter me." D.G. retorted.

Megan opened the door to the kitchen with Thatch's little siblings & Freddie's kid. "Morning, Kari. I brought you some little rascals."

Tailyn laughed. "Ha, the kids in that movie wish they were like us." She commented, tossing her blonde hair.

Tacey & Tadeu nodded in agreement. "We're so much better than those jokers."

"Megan, can you take them to the playground before they tear the kitchen down?" I wondered, pulling out some muffin pans. "So I can make breakfast for the rest of the kids scheduled to show up."

Megan picked Marc up. "Sure thing, come you little scamps." She replied, ruffling the 4-year-old's hair.

D.G. started getting pulled out of the kitchen by Devon. "Come on, Dory. Push me on the swing." She urged her sister.

D.G. turned her head to look at me. "I'll get you for this."

"Just try not to wake Johnny up." I told them. As soon as they left, the phone started ringing. "Playmates: Daycare Center. How can I help you?"

"Wow, don't you sound professional." Griffon joked. "Just calling to see that the little monsters got to your place safe & sound. Megan inherited your road rage."

"That is so not true." I said.

Griffon laughed. "Sure. Anyway, I'm in a bit of a situation."

"Is it a bad situation?" I asked.

"Who are you talking to?" A little voice asked. I looked down at Jamie, Freddie's daughter.

"Griffon, honey." I told her.

"They aren't going to end up like mommy & daddy, are they? Griffon & Thatch?" She wondered. Jessica & Freddie had gotten divorced when the girl was four, & Freddie had gotten custody.

"No, sweetie, they're not gonna end up like your mommy & daddy." I told her. "Go play with your cousins, okay?"

"Yeah." Jamie smiled & skipped outside, her brown curls bouncing wildly.

"She worried I was gonna call it off?" Griffon asked as soon as I told her she was gone. "Anyway, I got offered this really great job at a lab for the improvement of transportation. Only one problem. I might not take it."

I gasped. "What? How could you turn down something like that?"

"Because it's one of those jobs where you have to pay them before they even hire you, just so they'll look at your work. The total cost would be around ten grand." Griffon explained.

I heard the front door burst open & a stampede of little feet. "Yikes, the kids have arrived. I have to go!"

"Try not to wake the babies in the nursery." Griffon warned.

"That's what I hired Dana to do." I replied. "Bye G."

"See you at lunch today, Hikari-Graeae." Griffon said before the line went dead.

I took a deep breath. "Miss Kari!" I heard a bunch of little voices yell.

"Go on outside." I called back. "I'll be there soon."

Simon walked into the kitchen with Johnny just as I was taking a pan of muffins out of the oven. "Hey, Kari. Time for little kids to gush over the little man."

"They love that baby boy." I commented.

Simon looked at the muffins. "Mm, blueberry." He picked one up, dropping it almost immediately. "Hot!"

"Well, duh. I just took them out of the oven." I told him. "I'll save you one for after the kids finish throwing food at each other."

"Thank you." He said, walking out the door with the baby. "Love you!"

At the end of the day I walked into the nursery and my assistant Dana was rocking Marth and Aqua's Son River Joseph Mustang-Bennet. He has blonde hair like his mother and dark blue eyes like his father. He was the youngest out of all of our children so he was kinda spoiled especially by his mother.

"Hey you better gather up his stuff his mom's on his way to get him" I said sitting down in one of the chairs

"Okay then he's always so fussy at this time of the day" Dana said.

"It's because of his mom it's like he knows when she's coming so he has to be up when she comes" I said. "Aqua's got him on clock work" I said shaking my head.

"Amazing" Dana said shaking her head. "What about her?" Dana said looking over to Alex's and Flannery's daughter Soleil Lucille Mustang-Bennet. She had dark red hair just like her mother and father but hers was a dark shade and for some reason her eyes were amber but we found it comes from the twins' grandfather. She was a couple of months older than River and she slept like an angel.

"Well the Pale Lotus should be closing soon so she should be on her way" I said looking at my watch. The Pale Lotus was the name of Flannery's dress shop she owned in Central in memory of her biological mother and her love of Lotuses.

"Hello all" Aqua said walking in with something with a white sheet over it in one hand and a baby carrier in the other hand.

"Hey Aqua" I said.

"Hello Kari" Aqua said leaning the object and the carrier against the wall. "How was my little prince?" Aqua said taking River away from Dana and kissing his cheek.

"Fine as always" I said with a shrug. "Are you on your way to Papa's house?"

"Yes after I put this in River's room" Aqua said removing the sheet to reveal a beautiful painting made of different shades of blue.

"Aqua that's great" I said.

"I know. I've been looking for this ever since I got pregnant. I've been trying to buy it from this guy in West City for the longest time" Aqua said while buckling River in. "Well I'll see you all later" Aqua said before walking out.

"Hi" Flannery said once she walked in with her carrier.

"Oh you're here early" I said standing up and walking over to Soleil's bed.

"Well I wanted to get to lunch early so I could help out Mom out" Flannery said. "Oh and here's my check for the month" Flannery said handing me a check for Soleil's stays.

"Oh thank you" I said putting the check in my back pocket. "Here you are" I said handing her the baby.

"Oh hello darling" Flannery said. "You're still coming to lunch right?"

"Yea once all of the kids go home and I clean up here" I said.

"Alright then I'll see you then" Flannery said before walking out.

After they left, the kids piled off the school buses & inside, still dripping wet from where they had been taken to the local pool. One of the kids rushed up to me & jumped into my arms. "Hey Levi, what's wrong?"

"He got sick at the pool & his dad couldn't come pick him up." Simon explained, ushering kids into the playroom to set up the tables & chairs. He looked around at the noisy kids. "Remember guys, the smaller kids are still having nap time, so you have to be quiet."

They all stopped what they were doing before going back to setting the lunch area up, this time very quietly. Dana stood up & took her son from me. "There there, mama's got ya!"

Simon went to the kitchen & came back with paper plates, plastic forks & spoons & Styrofoam cups. "Dana, can you, Jeremy, Misty, Nina & Tracey take care of things?"

"Of course." Dana replied. "You guys go ahead & head out."

Simon gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You're a life-saver, Dana."

I walked back to the playroom & whistled sharply. "Hey, all the kids I'm looking for & the volunteer, it's time to leave."

As the kids filed out the door, Simon counted them off. "Tay, Tad, Tace, Digit-"

"D.G." The girl corrected.

"Right. D.G., Marc, Dev, Jay, & Lil Johnny. All here!" Simon said, picking up the baby as he passed the crib.

Megan cleared her throat. "Simon!"

Simon chuckled, "Oh, come on. You know we wouldn't forget you, Meg!"

"Uh huh, sure." She replied, walking past him. "Forget it."

**D.G.'s POV  
**I picked Devon up to help her into her car seat & fastened the buckle, then I did the same thing to Marc. Tay, Tad & Tacey were already in their seats in the van. It still boggled my mind that I was older than them by two days & yet they were my aunts & uncle.

"Everyone ready?" I asked.

Tad turned around in the middle row between his sisters. "Where's Jamie?"

"Oh, she's probably still inside." Tay stated, pulling a compact out of her purse.

"Go check, D.G. You're the only one who isn't buckled up." Tacey ordered.

"Fine." I sighed. I ran back inside & out to the playground, where Jamie was sitting up in the big pine tree in the back. "Hey, Jamie. It's time to go."

Jamie looked down & smiled. "I told you I could get outside without David noticing. If I come out here with a book, I won't have to put up with his crap."

"Way to go! Come on, though, we have to get to Nana & Papaw's house." I told her. She jumped down, landing on the picnic table, & skipped back inside humming a song.

"She's the weirdest out of all of us." I said to myself. "And that's saying something when you consider everyone in my family."

Lucky for me, I was given a cell phone to talk to papa when he was away, which was ringing. "Hey, baby girl."

"Hey, papa. How's it going north of Central?" I asked. He had gotten sent there to assist in the medical problems involving a train wreck & lots of passengers being put in the ICU.

"Great, actually. Almost everyone has been stabilized. I'll be home by tomorrow." He answered.

"Aw, you're gonna miss the family lunch. Everyone'll be there but you." I whined.

"Come on, you know if I had a choice, I would be right there beside you, but these people need help. Like I said, I'll be home tomorrow to tuck you in to bed & pick you up from school & everything else a good dad is supposed to do." He assured me.

I laughed. "If you wanna be a good dad, bring us some presents."

"I'll see what I can do." He replied. "Best wishes, Dorothy. Love you."

"Love you, too, papa. Bye." I told him, hanging up. He was gone a lot, but it was only for a few days at a time & he still loved us, so I didn't worry about him abandoning us like Jessica did to Freddie & Jamie. He loved us &, most importantly, mama.

**Riza's POV  
**I was setting up our family lunch in the backyard. I had cooked a big meal for everyone. I was going back to the kitchen to get more food when I heard a voice.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" The familiar voice said.

"I'm back here" I said. Then Thatch walked in with a bowl of food. "Oh hello Thatcher" I said taking bowl from him. I thought you weren't suppose to be home until tomorrow" I said placing the bowl from him.

"Well we were able to work through the night and we finished early this morning. I caught the express train to Central City and thought I'd surprise the wife and kids" Thatch said with a shrug.

"Well they're going to be very surprised everyone's missed you. Especially Griffon and Dorothy" I said straightening the table cloth.

"Yea I've missed them too. D.G.'s been calling me everyday" Thatch said. "So what's the name of Aqua's baby I've been hearing so much about?" Thatch said.

"Oh you mean River" I said.

"River huh?" Thatch said. Thatch was on an emergency call when Aqua gave birth to River.

"Yes Aqua spent a lot of time near the water when she was pregnant so she named him River and she gave him Marth's middle name" I explained.

"Oh so his name is River Joseph Mustang-Bennet?" Thatch said.

"Yep" I said. "He's quite cute and Aqua spoils him rotten" I said shaking my head.

"That doesn't surprise me she always wanted her first child to be a boy" Thatch said.

"Yea" I said.

"Papa!" I heard a voice say. We both turned around and saw Griffon and her kids.

"Thatch your home early!" Griffon said running up to Thatch and giving him a hug.

"Yea I wanted to get home and see you all" Thatch said.

"I knew you wouldn't miss the family lunch" Dorothy said hugging Thatch's legs.

"Course not" Thatch said rubbing Dorothy's head.

"Hey people" Aqua said walking in with a baby carrier.

"Hi Aquanette" I said as she kissed my cheek.

"Hi Mommy I brought your favorite grandson" Aqua said holding up the carrier.

"Um Aqua how do you not know Marc isn't Mama's favorite grandson?" Griffon said putting her hands on her hips.

"Griffon please cut River some slack he's just a baby" Aqua said taking River out of the carrier. "River meet your Uncle Thatch" Aqua said handing the baby to Thatch.

"Hey there little man" Thatch said. "He looks just like you Aq"

"Thanks us blondes will go far" Aqua said flipping her blonde ponytail.

"So where's Marth?" Griffon asked.

"Oh he's on the way he had an emergency call that he had to take care of" Aqua said.

"RJ!" We heard Megan scream. "Give me back my PDA!" Megan said.

"No! I'm playing with it!" RJ said before we heard frantic footsteps.

"It's not a toy!" Megan said.

"It is now!" RJ said.

"Ma are they still fighting?" Aqua said.

"I'm afraid so" I said shaking my head.

"That's so odd they use to get along so well when they were younger" Griffon said.

"It's just a little sibling rivalry now help me get all of this stuff out onto the table before your father gets home from work" I said.

"Yes ma'am" All of them said except for River of course.

**Ozzie's POV  
**I was late, again…Yikes. After a lecture from Megan, everything was fine & we had started talking about my niece, Jules. "Aw, how sweet." Griffon said, looking down at the photo. "Little Juliet is the cutest."

"Aside from Marc?" I guessed, although I already knew the answer.

Griffon put her hands on her hips. "Of course, other than Marc. No one beats Marc in that category."

"Says you." Devon remarked, pinching her snickering brother.

"Hey." Marc yelped, reaching over to pinch her back.

Griffon picked Marc up & Thatch grabbed Devon. "Excuse us." They said, walking inside.

D.G. smirked & Jamie giggled. "They're gonna get it." D.G. sang.

"Aren't you guys best friends?" I asked.

"Ha, no way. I'm just stuck having to take care of them since I'm the oldest." D.G. replied. She pointed to the tagalong McAlisters. "Those freaks are my friends."

"Hey!" The triplets yelled.

The next day at school, Megan, along with the rest of her friends, were running toward me & grabbing my arms, crouching behind my back. "Anything I should know about?" I asked, turning my head to look at them.

"Two words: Isaac Briers." Frida said in a frightened tone.

"Oh, God! What's your brother doing this time?" I wondered.

Rayne stood up a little straighter. "He & his perverted, rapist friends won't leave us alone."

I turned to face the girls. "And you're hiding behind me because…"

"Because we can't beat them. You're the only one stronger than them in the whole school." Anya explained. "Besides, Isaac forced a lip lock with your woman."

I looked down at Megan, who was wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her layered tee & looked ready to disinfect her mouth with the miniature bottle of hand sanitizer dangling from her keychain. "Ugh! That son of a bitch!" She growled.

Isaac & his friends came up to us. "Where are our lovely girls?" Xander purred, looking past me at Rayne.

"Back off." I ordered, pushing him back. "These girls obviously aren't interested."

Isaac stepped up to Megan, despite my efforts to stop him. "Come on, you know we'd treat you like princesses. We love you."

The girls started sneezing. Willow wiped her nose. "Sorry, we're allergic to bullshit."

Davis looked red as a beet from anger. "You, little skank, don't talk to men that way." He spat.

Isaac laughed at Willow's reaction to the remark. "Weak little street walkers."

I had heard enough. I walked up to Isaac & punched him in the face. "That's for badmouthing these lovely young ladies." Then, I drove my knee in between his legs & watched him fall to the ground. "And that, dear man-whore, is for forcing one on _my_ girlfriend."

The girls giggled, watching as the future druggies scattered from the scene light cockroaches in light & Isaac went fetal due to the pain in his most sensitive area. "Serves you right." Megan hissed.

I took her hand & guided the group away from the scene & walked each of them to their classes, just to be safe. "Let me know if anything like that happens again." I told Anya before taking Megan to her class.

"Thanks, will do." She called, opening the door to her class.

"Once again, the brave knight saves the lovely damsels from the traitorous grasp of the evil prince." Megan announced. She giggled & grabbed my hand. "You're the best Ozzie!"

"Yeah, I'll be sure to remember that when I get called to the principal's office again." I sighed. "That boy's gonna end up getting me expelled."

"Not if I tell my side of the story." Meg retorted, shuddering. "I want to wash my mouth with acid or bleach or detergent."

"That'll kill you." I informed her.

Megan stuck her tongue out at me & laughed. "Ya think?"

**Megan's POV  
**Ozzie really was my hero even if he did get suspended. Later that night I was getting ready for a party because my father had to attend another Furher's meeting. I was putting on my earrings when my cell phone went off.

"Hello?" I said answering my phone.

"Hey Meg it's Aqua" Aqua said.

"Oh hey Aq what's up?" I said.

"Hey I need a favor" Aqua said.

"Sure what is it?" I said.

"I need you to watch River tonight and Flannery needs you to watch Soleil" Aqua said.

"What? No why?" I said.

"Because we are going to Daddy's dinner party and I don't want the baby there and neither does Flannery" Aqua said.

"How is it that I'm 16 now and you're still going out more than I am? I was going to go out tonight" I said.

"I don't Meg but I really need a babysitter pretty please?" Aqua said.

"I'm expecting to be paid Aqua" I said. I know it was wrong to get money from my sister but she ruined my night.

"You will so will you do it?" Aqua said.

"I suppose because they are my niece and nephew" I said with a shrug.

"Thank you so much Meggie" Aqua said. "We'll be over in about 10 minutes" Aqua said before hanging up. I hung up and immidently dialed Rayne and three ways Ozzie.

"Hello" They said at the same time.

"Hey Rayne, Ozzie it's Meg look there's been a change in plans" I said.

"What happened?" Ozzie said.

"I have to watch River and Soleil tonight so I can't go" I said.

"Aww man" Rayne said.

"But hey if you guys stay with me I'll make sure I'll share some of my baby sitting money with you guys" I said.

"Sorry Meggie as much as I love money I need this party so I can find a boyfriend remember?" Rayne said.

"Oh right that's the whole reason we were going to this party. Rayne you're excused Ozzie what about you? Will you stay with me?" I asked.

"I'll stay with you Meg and you won't have to split your money with me" Ozzie said.

"Aww thank you Ozzie. Rayne I'll talk to you later" I said.

"Bye Megan" Rayne said before hanging up. A few moments later Ozzie arrived after Mama, Papa, and RJ left.

"Hey Meg the babies get here yet?" Ozzie said giving me a hug.

"No not yet they should be here soon. Thank you for staying with me Ozzie" I said giving him a small kiss.

"Course I can't have you here all alone" Ozzie said.

"My hero" I said giving him a hug.

"Hey Meg, hey Ozzie" Flannery said as she and Aqua walked in with their baby carriers and baby bags.

"Hey guys" I said.

"Okay then. They're already pretty tired so they should be going to sleep soon. Make sure they don't stay up like last time" Aqua said.

"That wasn't completely my fault once one of them gets going the other one has to stay up" I said with a shrug. "Sound familiar?" I said.

"…No" Flannery said.

"Not really" Aqua said. "But we'll be back at 11 bye darlings" Aqua said before she and Flannery walked out.

"They may be 24 now but they're still the same old Flannery and Aquanette" I said shaking my head.

In the morning, I walked down the stairs & pulled out a bowl, some milk, & some blackberries. Normally, they were expensive this time of year, but, since I got ninety percent of whatever the Anthony Bock Series made, I could have my own swimming pool filled with cash, but I spent it on organic berries & the rest was put into a college fund. I had also paid for earth friendly items & stuff to pamper myself every now & then.

RJ was downstairs next, probably because he wet the bed again & needed me to wash his sheets before mama & papa found out. "Hi, Meggie." He called cheerfully. Yep, he needs fresh sheets. "Get you get me some cereal?"

"Wouldn't you rather wait until mama is up to make you a real breakfast?" I asked in reply.

"No, I want cereal." He grumbled.

I finished pouring the milk into my bowl of berries & got the cereal down from the top shelf of the pantry & a bowl. "Here, you little runt. And no, I won't wash your sheets again. Go sleep in my room if you need dry sheets. It's a snow day, right?"

"Yeah, so?" RJ replied.

I ruffled his hair. "You're really stupid. If you don't have to go to school, you can sleep in."

RJ's eyes widened. "Really?" I nodded. "Cool."

He ran back upstairs & I felt the sudden urge to face palm. "That kid's got to have some sort of mental disease." Well, at least we got along part of the time.


	2. FF: II

**Thatch's POV  
**I was on my way to the hospital. It wasn't just the fact that the sight at the train wreck had left me unable to sleep that gave me the urge to go to work on my day off. Megan had called me in for something & had told me to meet her there.

"Hey, daddy, how come Meg wants you to see her?" Devon asked from her car seat. The young girl had taken an interest in neurology & had followed me out to the car, feeling the need to come along.

I shrugged. "We'll just have to see when we get there."

Devon leaned forward, trying to get a good look at either me or the snow covered streets. "Why is mommy always so tired? She always has those bags under her eyes."

"That's because Uncle Alex's car keeps breaking down. Since she's his mechanic, she has to keep fixing it." I told her.

"Mommy says Uncle Alex has a cursed tush. 'Every time he sits in a car, it has to break down.' That's what she says." Devon said, repeating her mother.

"Well, she just gets upset because if she didn't have to spend so much time fixing Alex's car, she could spend that time with you kids."

Devon sighed & slumped back in her car seat. "So, can we give Megan a CAT scan?"

"No." I shouted in disbelief. "Not until we at least know why she wants me over there."

"Fine." Devon agreed, clear disappointment in her tone.

"What is it with you & brains?" I asked, pulling into the parking lot. "You're not a zombie, right?"

Devon responded with a low growl. "Brains…" She groaned.

"Oh, I see. Come on, little zombie. Let's go talk to Megan." I stated, unbuckling her seat & picking her up.

When we walked inside, there was a rush of warm air, despite the fact that the rest of the hospital was just as cold as it was outside. Megan walked up to us & took Devon. "Hey, Thatch."

"My office!" I ordered, pointing to the private practice area. "Why am I here with a 4-year-old zombie girl & a teenager on my day off when I should be home?"

"Zombie girl?" Megan repeated, looking at Devon.

Devon threw her hands in the air. "Brains!"

Megan laughed, "I get it."

"We're gonna give you a brain scan." Devon told Megan.

I sighed & shook my head. "No, we're not. She's bent on giving someone a CAT scan."

"Actually, do you think you could give me a CAT scan?" Megan wondered. I stared at her. "I think I might be loosing it. I keep seeing things & just want to be safe. I can pay for it myself."

I sat down & opened the schedule on my desk. "First thing tomorrow." I told her. "That's as soon as I can get you it."

"Thanks." Megan called. She put Devon down on the desk & left.

"Might as well get some work done while we're here." I grumbled.

"Shouldn't you have asked what she saw?" Devon wondered. "Maybe she just has a gift like Flannery & Aqua & Kari & mama."

I closed the date book & leaned back in my seat. "That's exactly why I didn't ask."

Flannery had clairvoyance, Aqua had telekinesis, Kari could do this weird telepathy thing, & Griffon could perform alchemy by a mere thought. It was a surprise as to what could Megan could've gotten. There were a large list of possibilities as to what the girl could've been gifted with.

"Is she gonna have a gift like mama or my aunts?" Devon asked.

I stood up, picking Devon up with me, & walking back out to the car. "You, little zombie, don't need to worry about that."

"But I'll get to see you perform the tests, right?" Devon asked hopefully.

"Nope, Marc has piano, & you know he can't play if you're not there." I told her. It was true that Marc has a gift for a 4-year-old, but he couldn't get a single note right unless his twin sister was beside him, singing along if given the chance. "But I'll have Dr. Reid video tape it for you to study later."

Devon pumped her fist in the air. "Yes!"

I dropped the youngest twins off at Flannery's house for their lessons the next day & headed for the hospital. Whatever Megan was 'seeing' it had freaked her out this morning, so I was moving it up to as soon as I could.

I walked into my office, where Megan was waiting. "Morning, Thatcher-y." She called.

"Okay, before I can give you the CAT scan, I have to know what you saw." I informed her. "So, go ahead."

"You, Griffon, even people I don't even know." Megan confessed. "I see stuff that's happened to them. Real bad things."

I sat up straight & blinked in surprise. "You what?"

"It's weird. I saw you, about four, with your father & brother in the woods." Megan began.

I closed my eyes & took a breath. "Megan, I think you should get home now." I interrupted her. "I don't need to hear any more."

Megan gasped. "How come? I didn't say anything to offend you, did I?" She asked.

"Megan, I know for a fact that me & Thomas were the only ones who knew about going into the woods. Congratulations, this is normal for your family. Get out!" I said, pushing her out of the office & closing the door in her face. I didn't mean to be rude, but that really was terrible, whatever Megan had seen out of everything that had happened.

I heard Megan stomp away from the door & thought of something. What had happened to Griffon?

I would ask her later, for now, I just got back in the car & went to watch Marc & Dev. "I really hate this family sometimes." I grumbled. It wasn't really true, but I had almost forgotten about that. Why was Megan seeing things like that?

**Flannery's POV  
**I had finished with up with Marc and Devon's piano/singing lesson and I was waiting for Griffon to come pick them up. I heard a car honk from outside.

"Oh that must be your mom. We'll pick up from where we stopped so make sure you practice your sheet music with the keyboard I gave you" I said as I helped them into their book bags

"Okay Auntie Flannery" They both said.

"Okay" I said before kissing their foreheads before they ran out. I quickly ran up to the door. "Oh and tell your mom I'll have her check for Alex's car in a few days!" I said. I walked back inside and sat down and waited for Soleil to wake up from her nap when Megan suddenly busted through the door. "Megan? What the heck? I have a baby sleeping upstairs!" I said.

"I'm sorry Flannery but our brother in law is such a big jerk!" Megan said sitting down in one of the living room chairs.

"What did Alexander do this time?" I said with a sigh.

"No it wasn't Alexander…for once" Megan said.

"Well you use to have a crush on Marth when you were 8" I said.

"It was a little girl crush those totally don't count!" Megan said.

"Yea they do. You can't get mad at Marth, Simon's alright in your book the only one I can think of is Thatch" I said.

"Bingo!" Megan said.

"But what would Thatch do to you?" I said.

"I went in for a CAT scan this morning because I told him about these things I've been seeing. He asked me what I saw and I told him and he totally flipped out on me!" Megan said.

"Seeing things huh? Ancienta" I said quietly.

"What?" Megan said.

"Never mind. Megan I want you to go see Aria she'll be able to explain better than me. I think the same thing is happening to you as what happened to me, Aqua, Griffon and Kari when we were your age" I said writing down a note. "Make sure you give this note to Aria and I don't want you to read it until Aria sees it. Got it?" I said handing it to her.

"Okay I guess" Megan said with a shrug.

"Now get going. I'll talk to you later" I said.

"Bye Flannery" Megan said before she walked out to her car.

"Ah the good old days" I said leaning back in my chair.

**Aria's POV  
**I was on my way to my job at Gran's voodoo shop, which is actually pretty popular, when I heard Juliet. "Mom, door for you!"

I pulled my jacket on & walked over to the front door. "Who is it?"

"It's May." Juliet answered. "She says Flannery sent her here."

I nodded & motioned for her to go. "Go see if your dad needs help with the bakery."

"Okay, mom, you got it." Juliet called, already halfway down the hallway.

"Well, that was mean. I barely got to talk to her." Megan scoffed, walking inside. She held out a note. "Flannery told me to come & see you."

I took the note & read it over before laughing. "Hold on for a minute. Take a seat."

"Sure, it's not like I haven't been waiting long enough for an answer." Megan grumbled.

"Well, since you have such a small patience, I guess it can wait." I told her, sitting down in my chair. "Tell me what's going on."

"I keep seeing things that I don't think I'm supposed to be seeing. I saw Joshua get killed by his dad." Megan confessed, starting to cry.

"Why are you crying? We all know about Thatch's big brother." I told her blandly.

"It was like I knew what was supposed to happen. Thomas loved Josh, he was trying to kill Thatch, but made a mistake. That's why he hates him." Megan said between crying & gasping for breath.

I looked at her, eyes widening. "He what? How do you know that?"

"I don't know. I just felt like I was in his head, I knew what Thomas was trying to do." Megan stated, looking up at me.

"That is..." I paused & sighed. "Just close your eyes & try & see what you did before."

She did as she was told &, with a little Freedon Clan power, I was able to see the same image as Megan did. She was right to be worried. No one has had visions like hers for centuries. "Yikes."

"I have them about other people, too. Like Griffon, you, everyone. It's like they're projecting their worries & secrets. Jamie keeps thinking about her dad & if he's going to find another person to love." Megan sighed. "Why am I seeing things like that?"

I groaned, not really knowing how to explain. That was always Gran's job. "I think it's time for you to go."

"What?" Megan shouted.

"Go see Gran later or as soon as you can." I told her. "But, for now, I can't talk. It's hard to explain, but Gran knows how to put it into words."

Megan groaned & swore in Romanian. "Whatever! Why can't someone just tell me?"

I sighed & shut the door behind her. I really hated having to turn people away when they wanted help, but trying to put into words about the Ancienta was something I could never do. But, Megan was a Natur, meaning her power over emotions & life in perspective was strongest of all. It's hard to get used to the visions once you start having them.

"How interesting." I murmured as Juliet came back in.

"Her eyes changed colours." Juliet stated, pretty obviously. She must've been watching the whole time. "Does that mean she has powers, too?"

I nodded. Megan's eyes did start to change colour as she got frustrated. "She's pretty powerful, you know."

"Cool. How long until she can use that freaky mind control you told me about?" Juliet wondered.

I laughed & pushed her down the hall. "Go annoy your father. I have to get to work."

"Okay." Juliet nodded & skipped back down the hall. "Daddy! Mom says I have to annoy you!"

"Aria!" Zane yelled back. I laughed & closed the door as I walked out.

**Megan's POV  
**I trudged over to Gran's voodoo shop & past a line of people to the old woman. "Gran, I need a little insight."

"You must wait for-" Gran began, not looking up from the register. When she did look to me, she stopped. "Go wait for me in the back. Get Oz to watch the register."

"Yes ma'am." I agreed, walking to the back of the store, where the employees stay unless they're needed.

Ozzie stood up from his seat by a water cooler. "Hey, Meggie. Why are you here?"

"I don't know! First I go to see Thatch, he doesn't help. I go to see Flannery, who sends me to Aria, who sends me here! If I get bounced around any more, I will go insane!" I yelled in frustration.

"Relax, okay. Gran's the last person to turn you down. That, &...your eyes are turning red." Ozzie pointed out.

I pulled out my compact. "They are? How did _that_ happen?" I asked, touching just under my eye.

Gran opened the door. "Oswald, go watch the register."

"Sure thing." Ozzie replied, rushing out to the main part of the shop.

Gran sat down. "I see you have inherited your family's gift. You're receiving an Ancienta's power."

"I'm supposed to be the normal one!" I gasped. "I can't have powers like the others."

"It's not a bad thing. Let's just say that your powers are more...reckless than the others' are." Gran began explaining. "What you have is an ability to sense & control the emotions of others. You've been having visions, right? Of things you, or anyone for that matter, knew about?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't always bad things, just, like, things they were trying to keep secret."

"That is because you can feel the stress they unknowingly project, giving you the visions that you have." Gran informed me. "Your eyes change colour according to your mood. They will go back to normal when you calm down." She held out a pair of sunglasses. "For now, I suggest you wear these."

"Thanks, I think." I told her, standing up to leave. "I guess that clears a few things up."

"Oh, & tell Griffon congratulations on the new job." Gran called as I left.

"Will do!" I replied, even though I had no clue as to what she was talking about.

**Aqua's POV  
**I was cooking dinner and waiting for Marth to get home. River was resting in my arms. The doorbell rang and I turned off the stove and answered the door. It was Megan with a weird look on her face.

"Hey Meggie what's going on?" I asked.

"Oh nothing" Megan said. "I just found some stuff out and I need to talk to one of you guys and since your house was the closest I came to see you" Megan said with a shrug.

"Oh okay then" I said moving aside to let her in. "Here hold your nephew I need to go serve the tea" I said handing her River. After I poured the tea I put them on a serving platter and walked back into the living room where Megan was playing with River. "Okay what did you need to talk about?" I said taking River from her and handing her a piece of tea before sitting down in an arm chair.

"So I went to Thatch today who got really mad at me so I went to Flannery and then she sent me to Aria who sent me to Gran!" Megan said.

"Um...Okay" I said slightly confused.

"And she said that I have Ancienta power but that's ridiculous right?" Megan said.

"No, not completely Griffon and Kari are your biological sisters and their powers came out when they were around your age so no you're not going crazy" I explained.

"But that can't be right! I'm the normal one!" Megan said as her eyes turned red.

"Calm dude you're eyes are red. Just think about something that makes you happy and calm yourself down" I said. "Take a few deep breathes and relax" I said.

"Okay" Megan said she closed her eyes and opened them and their eyes turned back to normal.

"You're just an emotion reader it's nothing to be afraid of" I said.

"But I was suppose to be the normal one! Yes I know alchemy a majority of the people in this town do but I was the very little sister I was normal" Megan said.

I couldn't help myself I busted out laughing which made River look up at me funny. "It's okay River Auntie Meggie just made a funny" I said tickling his nose.

"And how did I make a funny?" Megan said.

"Honey you're a Mustang after the wild childhood we went through can you honestly consider yourself normal?" I said.

"Well...I um" Megan said.

"Exactly now I want you to bring me a piece of paper from Daddy's desk" I said.

"What?" Megan said.

"I'm going to write you a note so you can wear a pair of glasses to school" I explained.

"You're 24 years old and you're still forging notes?" Megan said.

"Only when I need to. Now since you don't go to school that much anymore because you're graduating early you spend the off time getting to know your powers better" I said standing up. I picked up a book off the bookshelf and handed to her. "Gran gave us a copy of her Ancienta clan book when we were finding out our powers too. Read it front and back then go see one of us older girls" I explained handing her the book.

"Thanks Aqua this might clear things up some. I'll be right back" Megan said before standing up and walking out. A few minutes later she came back with the piece of paper. "Here but why did you need a piece of paper from Papa's desk?" She asked.

"Because it says from the desk of Fuhrer Roy Mustang. If I forge his hand writing then he doesn't have to know for now. I use to do it all the time with my bad report cards" I said writing the letter before handing the piece of paper to her.

"Amazing it looks just like his" Megan said

"Come to me if you need it" I said.

"Thanks Aq" Megan said.

"No problem" I said before Megan walked out.

**Ozzie's POV  
**Megan & I were going to visit Griffon & Thatch to take D.G. to some movie she's been dieing to see. "Are you sure you want to take her to see that movie?"

"Dude, since when do you get the chance to see a made for TV movie in a theatre." Griffon retorted. "Besides, you know as well as I do that Dori loves South Park. Why wouldn't she want to see the movie in an actual theatre?"

"Griffon thinks you're taking her to a kiddy movie." I stated.

"Yep. That's also why she won't let D.G. see the SP movie." I replied.

"Are you just trying to get ready for that big, Comedy Central convention?" I wondered. "Because I know you & Rayne are planning on going in cos-play."

She slapped a hand over my mouth. "Look, it wasn't my idea. Rayne was the one that insisted. She says that since we're best friends, that we would be perfect to be the South Park crew along with Anya & Willow."

"Let me guess, you're Kyle." I said, trying not to laugh.

"Unfortunately, I have to." Meg replied. She forced the front door open & we entered the three-story house. "I wanted to go as Kenny."

"Why do you have to be Kyle?" I asked, getting ready for the answer.

Meg huffed & crossed her arms over her chest. "Because I'm a red-headed Jew."

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, but I could so see that coming."

"Yeah, I guess it is a little funny. Griffon & Kari are even going to make me a mechanic Ike so that I can play 'Kick the Baby.' It's even going to have a voice automated reply system to make it say 'Don't kick the baby!' I can't wait!" Megan explained.

"You are so obsessed." I groaned. "Please tell me Rayne didn't die her hair _just_ to look more like Stan."

"I highly doubt anyone would be that stupid." Meg replied. She raised her voice. "Doro-"

"D.G.!" The girl replied, running down from the third floor. "You said you would take me to the movies."

"Look, I have to get some new clothes, so Ozzie is taking you instead." Megan told her.

I looked up from the series of books on a nearby shelf. "I what?"

"That's okay. The Oz-man is cool." D.G. replied.

"Fine with you, Oz?" Megan asked.

I shrugged. "Sure, no problem. I don't mind. Dori's a cool kid."

Megan clapped her hands & gave D.G. a hug. "Thanks, you two."

We went past the room Tammy was staying in & Megan stopped. She knocked on the door & Tammy opened the door. "Yeah?"

"Can you tell Thatcher-y & Griffon that we're taking D.G. to the movies?" She wondered.

"Yeah, no problem." She assured us.

We thanked her & started out the door, but Megan turned back again. "Oh, & Tammy?" Tammy went over to us. "He feels the same way, you know."

Tammy smiled weakly, nodding to her. "Thank you, Megan."

"What was that about?" I asked as soon as we were outside.

"Tammy & Freddie." Megan answered with a small smile. "They have the hots for each other."

"Freaky." I mumbled in a sing-song tone.

**Flannery's POV  
**I was at the Pale Lotus working on a dress design when Megan and Rayne walked in.

"Hey girls what can I do for you?" I asked putting my pencil down.

"Hey Flannery we need dresses to wear under our graduation gowns" Megan said.

"Yea I need something that says 'Rayne'" Rayne said.

"Um okay well I don't have an appointment for another two hours so I can squeeze you in now" I said with a shrug.

"Thanks!" The girls said. They walked into the back and started looking through all of my fabric selection.

"So girls which one of you is valedictorian?" I asked.

"Me" Both of the girls said before looking at each other.

"Oh no" I said.

"Megan Principal J said I had the scores of the graduating class" Rayne said.

"No Rayne Principal J said I had the scores of the graduating class" Megan said.

"You guys better figure out soon because the same thing happened to me and Aqua before they found out that Aqua was two points away from passing me" I explained.

"We're going to figure this out as soon as we go back to school" Megan said.

"Damn right we are" Rayne said. "But enough about that can you make something out of this one?" Rayne said pulling out a dark midnight fabric.

"Sure Rayne what kind of style would you like?" I asked pulling out my sketch pad.

"Something short and strapless I want to be comfortable when I'm going through those long speeches" Rayne said.

"Okay then. What about you Megan?" I asked/

"I like this one" Megan said holding up a rich lilac colored fabric. "I like spaghetti straps and it has to flow a little" Megan said.

"You got it girls I'll get started tonight and I should be finished in about 2 days" I said writing some details down.

"Thanks Flannery you're a life saver" Rayne said.

"No problem Rayne and Alexander wanted to make sure that you were coming over for your game night?" I asked slightly confused.

"Oh yea! I have to smoke him in that new first person shooter game I got" Rayne said.

"Oh my gosh" I said shaking my head.

**Rayne's POV  
**Willow, Anya & I walked up to Megan's room & knocked on the door. Willow tried to say something, but her voice was muffled by her orange parka.

"Yeah, open up, you damn Jew!" Anya called.

"Shut up, fat ass!" Megan yelled back. She opened the door to room, pulling on a pair of gloves. "Looks like you're enjoying this a little too much."

"Hey, I have to get into character." Anya stated dramatically, tossing her brunette hair over her shoulder & directly into Willow's face. "And Cartman is a really big asshole."

"Watch it!" Willow told her.

Megan turned back to her desk & grabbed her bright green ushanka. "Let's just go, already. We're going to be late."

"According to my brother, we're the only group going as the South Park crew. I saw, like, three groups on my way here. One was Terrence & Phillip, then the Ugly American crew, & then the Futurama gang." Anya explained.

Willow shook her head. "Correction, we're the only cross-dressing South Park crew. Ozzie & his friends, remember?"

"She has a point." I agreed, fixing my cap. "But that doesn't mean we're not the best."

"We have a little something extra up our sleeve." Megan continued. "We have Ike."

"Ike?" Anya & Willow asked.

"Yeah, come on & I'll show you what he does." Megan called, pushing past us to get downstairs. "He's all ready & perfect."

"Mind filling us in, Jew girl." Anya said.

"Shut up, fat ass!" Megan yelled.

Mrs. Mustang called up. "Watch your mouth, Megan."

"Sorry!" Megan told her. She glared at Anya. "Way to go."

We all went downstairs & Megan held up a mechanical baby. "Watch this." I told the other two.

Megan set the baby on the ground. "Kick the baby!" she said.

The toy opened it's mouth. ""Don't kick the baby!"

"Kick the baby!" Megan repeated. She kicked the toy & it spun around in the air, landing on her hat. "See, there's a special, uh, well I can't remember what it's called, but every time I kick the toy, it comes back to the device & makes it land on the hat."

Once we got to the convention center, there was a group of boys standing in front of the doors. "Evening ladies."

"Hey guys, let us through." Anya told them. "We've been waiting months for this."

"Back off, Anya." I warned, pulling one of the guys' hat off. "It's Ozzie & the guys."

"Looks like Stan & Kyle do belong together." Willow commented.

Megan & I looked at each other & took a few steps away from each other. Willow laughed & said something muffled through her parka.

"Ew, that's nasty." I squealed.

"You understand her?" Ozzie asked.

Megan shrugged. "Eh, kinda. It's not that hard."

"I was talking about how Ozzie is Stan in his group." Anya sighed, rolling her eyes. "Willow is just a natural pervert."

We stayed for an hour to check out all the stuff they had. Megan ended up buying up almost everything South Park that she saw. She was going insane. Eventually, she got separated from the rest of us.

"Where is she? It's almost time to leave." I wondered.

Ozzie looked around & pointed to a boy. "Over there. Give her a minute."

"Whatever, go head. Just try & bitch slap me." The boy called.

Megan started to raise her hand, but stopped & just punched him straight in the nose. "How's that for a bitch slap?" She yelled. "For the last fucking time, leave me alone, Isaac!"

"Hell hath no fury like a Mustang scorned." Ozzie sighed. "Let's leave before security gets called on her."

Willow made a comment, once again muffled by her hood. I pulled it down to get a clearer answer.

"What?" I asked.

"I said, 'Isaac is one sick son of a bitch.'" Willow repeated.

"Oh." The group of us said.

"I see yellow security jackets." Anya stated.

Ozzie picked Megan up & carried her out with the rest of us following behind.

**Megan's POV  
**I was getting ready for a party my parents were throwing for Rayne and me because we were going to be graduating soon. It was all my older sisters idea of course but if it got me some free stuff I guess it was cool. After getting dressed in the dressed in the lilac dress Flannery made for me, I walked downstairs to meet up with Rayne who was sitting on the couch drinking some lemonade.

"Where'd you get that from?" I asked as I walked up to her.

"Oh I said I was thirsty so your little brother got me some before they left to go to your grandpa's house. I told he had a crush on me" Rayne said before finishing off her lemonade. "So you ready to go?" Rayne said standing up and placing the cup on the table by the couch.

"Yea let's get this over with" I said straightening out my dress. We walked out to my car which was Griffon's old car since all four of the girls got new cars the day they graduated. We climbed into the car and drove towards Grandpa Grumman's house. Rayne didn't like my Grandpa all that much because out of all of the years she had known she said that he hasn't aged any but that was just Rayne. We walked to the back yard which was full of purple and blue balloons which were Rayne and I's favorite colors.

"Megan where were you?" Flannery asked.

"Yea you're 15 minutes late" Griffon said.

"Hey I was waiting for Rayne to come to the house." I said.

"Yes and I take a lot of time to make sure my look is just right" Rayne said.

"Plus she's Alexander's sister" Aqua said.

"Hey!" Alex and Rayne said.

"Alright girls no upsetting the girls of the hour this is their special day" Mama said.

"Right you need to listen to Mrs. Mustang" Rayne said putting her hands on her hips.

"Alright girls now c'mon Aqua would you like to show Megan and Rayne you're presents?" Mama said pulling up two chairs for us to sit down in.

"Oh right" Aqua said before running off. She came back with two portrait size paintings wrapped in white wrapping paper. "Okay girls I spent a lot of time painting these so you better like them" Aqua said.

"Aquanette" Papa scolded.

"I mean enjoy!" Aqua said handing them to us.

"Thanks Aqua" I said. We opened them up and they were our self portraits from our year book. We were both in black off the shoulder dresses with white pearls around our necks. I looked down at the frame and it had my full name on it. ' Megan Athena Mustang' was engraved at the bottom of the frame. I looked over at Rayne's and then started giggling a little. "Your middle name is Sinclair?" I asked.

"Yes!" Rayne said blushing a little. "Rayne Elizabeth Sinclair Bennet the Sinclair part is a family name" Rayne said putting her hand on her hip.

"Whatever dude" I said shaking my head. Then Ozzie walked up to me.

"Here you guys" Ozzie said handing Rayne a slightly bigger box than mine.

"Neat bracelet Ozzie thank you" Rayne said

I opened my box to reveal a pretty gold necklace with a flower charm on it.

"Ozzie it's beautiful thank you" I said.

"No problem Meggie " Ozzie said before giving me a small kiss.

"Can you put it on me?" I asked.

"Of course" Ozzie said taking the box from me. He took the necklace and I held up my hair and he latched it for me.

"Thank you Ozzie" I said before kissing his cheek.

"Here girls this is from Aqua and me." Flannery said handing a box to the each of us.

"Am I sure I want to open this?" I said.

"Just shut up and opening it dude" Aqua said. We both opened our boxes and I pulled out a diamond studded watch with a pink band on it.

"Oh my gosh are these real diamonds?" Rayne asked.

"Yep Marth, Alex, Flannery and I put all of our money together to get you those so take good care of them" Aqua said.

"No problem" Rayne said slipping the watch on her wrist. "Oooo shiny" Rayne said moving her wrist around to get the shine off of it.


	3. FF: III

**Griffon's POV  
**I stared down at the computer screen in my office. My new job was great, but got a little boring once you get promoted. Then you only sit at a desk with paperwork. It's almost as bad as papa's job, only I actually get my work done without being threatened by someone else. The door opened & one of the other scientists came in.

"Hey, I got word from one of the higher ups that you're going to be sent home for the day." He said.

"Huh? Why?" I wondered. "What'd you hear, Chris?"

"Something about that train wreck." Chris answered, tossing the newspaper on my desk. "Someone is very upset with the survival rate. Three of the doctors & one surgeon have been found dead. Not to mention another three attempted attacks on hospitals & trains from the same station. Seeing as how your husband was there, maybe he's next, that's what Shelby thinks."

"Having a wife on the force really helps you stay in the know, doesn't it?" I shrugged. "She forgets to put her files away when she has to bring work home. I read them before I put them away."

I laughed a little. "Get back to work, Mr. Donovan."

When I got home, everything seemed fine. Devon & Marc were practicing for their lesson later on & D.G. was with Jamie, sitting up in a tree & shooting acorns with slingshots. Tailyn, Tacey & Tadeu had drifted downstairs to talk about Tammy & Freddie's new relationship, which wasn't really a surprise to me.

"Aren't you a little young to be gossiping so often?" I asked.

Tacey shrugged. "We just thought you'd like to know."

Tadeu nodded. "We also heard that our big brother is a terrorist target." He stood up on a stood & climbed onto the counter. "Is that true?"

I pulled him down & handed him a box of cookies. "No, just because a few of the doctors Thatch worked with got in an accident or two doesn't mean he's going to be attacked."

The triplets stared at me, obviously not believing me."Go play with the dogs, okay?" I told them, opening the back door for them.

All four of Thatch's siblings wanted to stay with him when Zarah had gotten sick & Ian had gotten a new job 'far away,' & Brier had left a year before that, so they really didn't have much of a choice. Tammy just wanted to be there for the youngest of the family, so she had come to us as well.

"That's fine." They called, running out to play with the three puppies.

The dogs were a gift for their seventh birthday. Tadeu had a black & white Siberian husky named Alvin, Tacey got an Australian shepherd/Border Collie mix, also black & white, named Abba, & Tailyn had picked a peek-a-poo or whatever it was called when you mix a poodle with another breed. The small puppy was a rich brown & easily the most hyper, named Tobias a.k.a. Toby. D.G. had a ferret, sandy blonde & named Sandy & Jamie had a small black kitten named Numa.

"This family is big on animals, isn't it?" I asked when I heard someone coming, not really taking my eyes off the kids through the window. "Watch your brother & sisters, I had to take Marc & Devon to Flannery's."

"You're leaving so soon?" Thatch wondered. "I just walked in. What's going on?"

"I got sent home early to check on you. A lot of people are starting to freak over whoever is going after survivors of that train wreck...& the doctors who are responsible for their survival." I explained. "It's one of the things we're working on at the lab. More security on trains & buses, to prevent stuff like that." I turned to him. "Chris told me the final report. That wreck wasn't an accident."

"Shouldn't you be telling Alex all this." Thatch wondered.

"I have to go, remember?" I grabbed my keys, gave him a kiss, & left. "Marc, Devon, let's go!"

**Thatch's POV  
**Almost a half hour after Griffon left, I got a call. "Hello?"

"Thatcher Lesser?" A voice asked. "I'm calling on regards of the train wreck you assisted in a few months ago. We have reason to believe that could be attacked by a serious threat. We would like to assign someone to protect you."

"I'll pass." I told him.

"Are you sure? It could be-"

"Listen, if Alexander Bennet can convince me, then maybe I'll consider it." I said, interrupting him. "Patch me through to him."

**Alex's POV  
**I was at work filling out paperwork when the phone rang.

"This is Bennet" I said as I picked up the phone.

"Colonel there's a man calling for you a Mr. Thatcher Lesser" The phone connector said.

"Thatch? Patch him through" I said.

"Right away sir" The phone connector said.

"Hey Alex" Thatch said.

"Thatch is something wrong?" I asked leaning back in my seat.

"I just a call from some guy saying that I might need protection because the train wreck I worked at a couple of months might not haven been an accident" Thatch said.

"You don't say huh. Well I personally haven't gotten a report on it but I 'll get together with the investigations department and I'll get back to you" Alex said.

"Thanks man and call me back as soon as you find something out" Thatch said before hanging up. I would have to get one of my Lieutenants to get it for me later after my meeting.

Megan looked up. "What was that?"

"Nothing, Megan." I told her.

"You really want me to dug into the phone records again?" Megan asked. "You know as well as I do that when I go through phone records, then I'll find out what you say to Flannery during those calls where you make me leave the room so that I don't hear."

I paused & sighed in defeat. "Fine, there's a conspiracy that the train wreck was caused purposely & they want some newbie to follow Thatch for protection detail."

"I have got to get my hands on that report." Megan exclaimed.

"You have got to get your butt back to school." I informed her. "See, you got too excited & now your eyes are green. Where are your glasses?"

Megan slipped on her sunglasses & scoffed. "Like you actually give a damn about my education."

"School, little woman." I ordered, pushing her out the door.

**Megan's POV  
**"Are you serious?" Ozzie asked.

Rayne pushed up in between us. "Someone has it out for Thatch?"

"Apparently." I answered. "Freaky, no one ever has it out for Thatch. He's just...there."

"Like Jimmy?" Rayne offered.

"No, more like a Kenny, or Tweek. Season six, remember." Ozzie argued. "Sometimes he's even a bit of a Craig."

I looked at them. "You're seriously trying to compare one of my sisters' husbands to a South Park character?"

"We have nothing else to do." Ozzie answered with a shrug. "I'll get expelled if I get in another fight with Isaac."

"Speak of the devil." Rayne hissed.

Isaac & his friends walked by & Ozzie sent them a death glare. They really hate each other. It may seem obvious, but if you have my gift, it's a helluva lot worse when you can actually feel the waves they give off. It makes me sick to my stomach, along with all the perverted thoughts that I sometimes pick up from them.I stopped at my locker, & so did the others. "They make me sick."

"Whatever, hey look at that." Rayne whistled when I opened my locker. "You've got an admirer."

I looked down at the flowers & jumped away. "B-begonias, damn."

"What? They're just flowers." Rayne laughed lightly while Ozzie took the flowers & dropped them on the ground. I stomped them a few times before he picked them back up & tossed them in a trashcan. "What's the big deal?"

"I'm superstitious about the things that flowers are supposed to represent, so are the young twins. Like, Griffon likes pink striped carnations because striped carnations mean 'Wish I could be with you' & pink carnations mean 'I'll never forget you.' But, begonias are used as a warning, because they represent 'beware.'" I shrugged. "Not to mention my allergy of begonias."

"I thought you were allergic to avocados." Rayne pointed out.

Ozzie laughed at her. I sighed & tossed an arm around her shoulders. "A person can have more than one allergy. God, you're hair is black. Quit acting like such a blonde."

Ozzie gasped as Willow walked by. "We lost her." He hung his & I looked up in time to see her join Xander & Isaac.

"Eh, she was always a skank." Rayne replied.

"It was only a matter of time." I told him. "We couldn't help her if we tried." I turned around & gave the group the finger. "Frida can replace her easily."

"So, I think it's time to change the subject." Ozzie suggested, clasping his hands together. "Do you think Thatch will actually accept the offer?"

I thought about it for a minute. "Protection detail didn't very much help Mr. Tucker or the Elrics. They always screw up somehow."

"That isn't an answer." Rayne said.

"Most likely." I replied.

**Thatch's POV  
**After tucking in the kids in Griffon and I decided to head to bed ourselves. I walked into our room and Griffon was coming out of the bathroom in her new night gown.

"You like it?" Griffon said smiling.

"Love it" I said wrapping my arms around her waist. "Let's go to bed"

"Right" Griffon said as we climbed into bed.

"Night Griff" I said before giving her a small kiss on the lips. I turned off the lamp and Griffon laid her head on my chest.

"Thatch wait" Griffon said turning the lamp back on.

"What is it Griffon?" I said as we both say up.

"I really think you should reconsider this whole protection thing think about the kids" Griffon said.

"Griffon I am I'm just waiting for Alex to make the call he and Megan are looking into just for us" I said.

"But what if it takes to long? What if something bad happens?" Griffon said.

"Griff everything will be fine I may not look it but I'm pretty good at defending myself" I said.

"That's right you don't" Griffon said.

I let out a small laugh. "Don't worry okay I'm not going anywhere not now not ever. Now please just go to bed" I said before kissing her forehead.

"Okay" Griffon said as we laid back down.

**Flannery's POV  
**I decided to work from home today because I wanted to spend time with Soleil. Alexander wanted to stay too but he was working on Thatch's case. I was sitting on the couch with Soleil in my arms when the phone rang.

"Hello?" I said as I answered my phone.

"Hello Mrs. Bennet your husband would like to connect you to his office" The phone connector said.

"Oh Alex" I whispered. "Yes please patch me through" I said almost with a laugh.

"Right away ma'am" The phone connector said.

"Hello beautiful" Alex said.

"Hello to you too Alex aren't you suppose to be working?" I said.

"I am working I'm just taking a small break to call the woman of my life" Alex said.

"You need to get to work Alex we can't have little Sully thinking her father is a lazy bones" I said.

"I am not a lazy bones and Soleil loves her father she's a daddy's girl" Alex said.

"If you say so well you need to get back to work so I'm hanging up now. The only time you need to call me back is when you're on your way home" I said.

"Yes ma'am" Alex said jokingly. "I love you"

"I love you too" I said before hanging up. "Soleil your father is so silly" I said.

**Alex's POV  
**"Man you are whipped" Megan said as she walked in.

"Hey shut up! I am not" I said.

"So anything new about Thatch's file?" Megan asked.

"Not anything you need to know Megan because technically you don't work here" I said.

"Aww c'mon I'm here everyday and my papa is the Furher just think of it as bring your daughter to work day" Megan said.

"With you Megan it's always bring your daughter to work day" I said.

"And what's so wrong with that?" Megan said with a shrug.

"Whatever. Well I better call Thatch" I said picking up the phone. "Connect me to Dr. Thatch Lesser please"

After a few minutes a click was heard. "Hello?" Thatch said.

"Hey Thatch it's Alex" I said.

"Hey Alex what's up?" Thatch said.

"Well the report came back and good news for you for now looks you and the family won't need protection for now" I said."

Great thanks man" Thatch said.

"No problem but remember this can change at anytime and I'm still looking into this so stay on guard" I said.

"You got it man thanks again" Thatch said before hanging up.

"Ugh to much work for one day just once I want day at home with the family" I said looking at the picture of Flannery and Soleil on my desk.

"Aww Alex misses his family" Megan said.

"Ugh that's it" I said picking up the phone again.

"What're you doing?" Megan asked.

"I'm calling your mother to come and get you" I said.

"Party pooper" Megan said

**Griffon's POV  
**I sat at my desk, staring at the documents in front of me. I sighed when the phone rang, already pretty sure as to what the call was about. "Hello?"

"Do I even have to tell you?" The person on the other end asked.

"I'm on my way." I told her. "I'm really sorry, Mrs. Lake."

"We're used to it by now." She replied.

I stood up & headed out the door with my coat. I drove over to the school & went into the school's office. D.G. was sitting across from the secretary's desk. "Hello again, Griffon."

"Hello Rachel." I greeted, looking at my kids. "What is it this time?"

"D.G. is saying that there was a man watching her on the playground." Mrs. Lake informed me.

"There was!" D.G. yelled. "He was watching me & Jamie & when we told him to leave, he said he would deal with my whole family, especially papa."

I stared at her for a second. "Dorothy Gale Lesser, why on Earth would you make something like that up?" I asked, faking anger.

"But, I'm-" She began.

"May I just take her home?" I asked Mrs. Lake.

"Please." The secretary insisted, handing me the sign out sheet.

As soon as D.G. & I were outside, I bent down in front of her. "You're telling the truth?"

"I may lie about some things - like where I hid Devon's & Marc's sheet music - but not something like that." D.G. stated stubbornly. "He scared the rahat out of me." (rahat - shit)

"Don't use that kind of language." I told her. "But I want you to call either me or your father if anything else happens, okay?"

"Yes, mama." She replied, looking down. "Will you pick Marc & Devon up right now?"

I picked the short girl up. "Alright, just calm down. I think you need to lay down." I drove to Playmates & picked up the twins before going home & taking D.G. up to her room.

"He's gonna get us." The 7-year-old commented on before. "He gave me his word."

"Try & get some rest." I told her. I kissed her forehead & went back down to make Devon & Marc something to eat.

They stared at the boiling water as I poured macaroni in. "Why is Dori going crazy?"

"She's not going crazy." Marc argued, "She's just too stressed."

"Why don't you go play outside & I'll call you when your food is done?" I wondered.

"Okay!" The two called, running out the door to the backyard.

I turned around from putting dishes away later that day when I the door closed. "Thatch, I want you to ask for protection."

"Why?" He wondered.

"There was a man at D.G.'s school talking about…that." I informed him. Then, I pointed to the phone. "Call Alex!"

"Alright." He grumbled, picking up the phone. "Christ, with my luck, Megan will be the one to answer instead of Alex."

**Thatch's POV  
**I woke up the next morning to a knock on the front door. I moved making sure not to wake Griffon or the kids. I answered the front the door and it was Alex with three of his men.

"Morning Thatch. These are my lieutenants. This is 1st Lieutenant Giovanni Lorenzo my second in command, 2nd Lieutenant Kenneth Hartly, and 2nd Damon Lee Jr. This is your protection posse. They're some of my best men" Alex said.

"Aren't they your only men?" I asked.

"Nah I have back up men. Now then Lorenzo will go with you, Hartly will go with Griffon and Lee will go with the kids" Alex said.

"I don't know Alex I don't think Griffon will be comfortable with someone following her around all day" I said.

"Don't worry that's why I picked Hartly in the first place. He's super quiet and he understands the situation he'll only talk unless he absolutely has to he'll be perfect for Griffon" Alex said. "Now then men I want you to protect the Lesser family with your lives. I want a full status report at 1700 hours is that clear?" Alex said.

"Sir yes sir!" All three of them said as they saluted him.

"Alright then" Alex said.

"Alex quick question" I said.

"Sure what is it?" Alex said.

"Well not to be offensive or anything but how the heck did you graduate top of your class to become the youngest Colonel yet?" I asked it was a question that had been bugging me for the longest.

"Oh you know hard work, determination, skill, constant studying and most importantly the love for my wife and my baby girl. I'll see you guys later tell me if you need any thing my phone is always clear just hang up if Megan picks up I'm trying to make a deal with Furher Mustang to have her stop coming by so often" Alex said before walking off the stoop.

"What's all this?" Griffon asked as she walked downstairs in her robe.

"Griffon these are Alex's Lieutenants they are our protection" I said.

"Oh good I'm so glad you're here" Griffon said shaking their hands.

"Well thank you Mrs. Lesser and we promise no harm will come to you or your family as long as we're here" Lieutenant Lorenzo said.

"Thank you" I said. This was going to take some getting use to

**D.G.'s POV  
**"So, your name is Damon Lee Jr.?" I asked, looking up at the man.

He nodded. "And you're Dorothy Gale Lesser?"

"Let's get something straight right now." I told him. "My name is D.G. Lesser."

"I see." Mr. Lee said.

"Great. I'm just gonna call you D.J. since Damon is funny sounding & I don't use professional names like Lieutenant or Mister." I informed him. "And yes, I am a bossy little brat." I grabbed Marc & Devon's hands. "These two are Marc & Devon. The McAllisters are here too, but I don't know if you have to watch them."

"Alright." D.J. agreed. "Where are you supposed to be right now?"

"Mama says that since you have to watch the three of us, that we're going to Playmates." Devon said quietly.

"We walk there with Mama before she goes to work." Marc explained.

"So today you have to walk us." Devon concluded.

"Lead the way." D.J. called.

Devon started pulling me out the door. Mama & Papa had already left & Tammy had taken the triplets to school because they didn't need to be watched. When we got to Playmates, I held the sign-in sheet out to D.J.

"You have to sign un in so the Miss Tracey knows how many kids are present." I explained, handing him a pen.

Aunt Kari came out of her office with Simon & Johnny. "Oh, D.G. I was just talking about you."

"Were they good things?" I asked.

Aunt Kari looked back to her office & waved for someone to come out. A young boy with brown hair & blue eye came out. "This is Cain. He's going to Playmates until his mother enrolls him in the elementary school, & since you're going to be here for a short time, I figured you might like to get to know him."

"Cool!" I exclaimed. "This is D.J. He's our protection."

"Well, I'm sure he'll do an amazing job of it." Aunt Kari assured me.

Simon handed baby Johnny over to Kari & led the four - or rather five - of us out to the playground. "Remember, today's a Center day."

Devon & Marc left as soon as the door to the playground opened, yelling. "Miss Tracey!"

I went over to the picnic table & climbed on top before jumping up & grabbing the lowest hanging branch. I swung my legs up & hoisted myself onto the branch & continued climbing until I reached Jamie. "Hey, chickita. Why aren't you in school?"

"Daddy told me that I needed to keep you company." Jamie sighed. "I've been here for twenty minutes. So, who's the military man?"

"D.J. was assigned to give us protection from the murderer." I explained with a shrug. "There's going to-"

"Dori, the railroad tracks." Jamie hissed suddenly, pointing over the tall fence at the forest.

I looked over at where she was pointing & nearly fell off the branch. "Dear God, it's him!"

Jamie nodded & jumped down. "I'm getting that D.J. man."

I leapt down after her & ran over to D.J. Right before we could show him, we saw the man dive into the brush & a train zoomed across the tracks, further blocking our view. I looked up at D.J.

"I swear we saw him!"

"I believe you." D.J. assured me.


	4. FF: IV

**Alex's POV  
**I was sitting on the bed with the baby on my chest going over some paperwork. Then Flannery walked in talking on the phone to someone while holding a bottle for the baby

"Okay Griffon don't worry I'll tell him" Flannery said before hanging up.

"What's going on?" I asked looking up from my work.

"That was Griffon" Flannery said as she sat down next to me. "She said Dori and Jamie saw the guy at the daycare center even though Damon was there" Flannery said handing the bottle to me.

"Aww man don't worry I'll just get some more people like guards to protect the places where the Lesser family are. Like the daycare Griffon and Thatch's work stuff like that" I said as I fed Soleil.

"Thank you honey for all of the hard work you've been doing for Griffon and Thatch" Flannery said before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"It's no problem they're family I wouldn't want something happening to you or the baby." I said with a shrug. She just smiled and gave me another kiss.

**Kari's POV  
**Simon and I walked into work the next morning and Alex was standing there with two men and holding baby Soleil in his arms.

"Um Alex what're you doing here so early?" I asked.

"Well mainly to drop off my daughter" Alex said handing Soleil to Simon. "Simon, Kari these are Lieutenants Stanton and Douglass they are going to guard the daycare for anything suspicious" Alex said.

"Um okay?" Simon said.

"Don't worry guys hopefully this won't take long" Alex said.

"Hopefully?" I said.

"This is just mandatory until we find the guy that's trying to get to Thatch" Alex said.

"And how long will that be Alex?" I said stomping my foot.

"With my deductive skills not very long" Alex said with a shrug.

"Oh it better I am trying to run a business so you better be working around the clock" I said.

"Don't worry Kari everything will be fine" Alex said. "Now I will see you guys later" Alex said before walking to his car.

"How that man ever made Colonel I will never know" I said shaking my head.

"Don't worry I'm sure Alex will figure this thing out" Simon said.

"He better" I said.

**Megan's POV  
**I was sitting at my desk trying to write the next chapter of my book which wasn't going to well because that dumb ass Alex hadn't let me come in for 2 weeks I threaten to come in anyway but Alex had my papa keep me away. They were going to come up with a time when I could come but for right now I couldn't come in unless it was an absolute emergency. I put my head on my desk and then someone busted through the door but that didn't make me lift my head.

"Hello Meggie!" Rayne's voice rang through my ear but that still didn't make lift my head.

"Hi Rayne" I said.

"What's wrong with you?" Rayne asked.

"Your brother" I said sitting up and turning to face her.

"Well you use to have a crush on Marth so I'm guessing Alexander" Rayne said flopping on the bed.

"It was a little girl crush! It totally doesn't count!" I said.

"Yea it does" Rayne said.

"Shut up!" I said.

"Is that Rayne I hear?" RJ said as he walked inside my room.

"You ever heard of knocking little man?" I said.

"No. How are you doing today Rayne? You look pretty today" RJ said blushing.

"Aww thank you RJ" Rayne said. "Mwah!" Rayne said kissing his cheek.

"RJ please come downstairs!" Mama said.

"Coming Mommy!" RJ said. "Bye Rayne" RJ said before running out.

"You know even though I can't stand him right now you think it's nice to lead my little brother on like this?" I said.

"Aww c'mon it's nothing. So what did Alex do?" Rayne said.

"He got me kicked out of Central Headquarters" I said folding my arms across my chest.

"Harsh but I did get the sketch for this books covers" Rayne said handing me the sketch.

"Gee Rayne what would I do with out you" I said hanging my head down slightly. She wasn't helping!

"I know you'd go crazy with out me" Rayne said.

"I go crazy _with_ you." I told her. "Come on. I need to pick up some stuff & some kids."

"I thought that one man was watching the kids." Rayne stated.

"He is…I have to pick Juliet up & take her to figure skating lessons & then Kari has to take Simon somewhere so I'm watching Johnny." I started explaining. "And then I have to do some shopping. I need more walnuts, blackberries, you get the point. After that I'm going to see Thomas at the book store & then I'm picking Ozzie up from hockey."

"Do you ever think of taking a break?" Rayne asked.

"Never!" I shouted. "Since I'm no longer allowed to be at HQ, I have no material at all. My deadline for the new Tony Bock book is next week & I'm already getting calls from those annoying talk shows about getting the first chapter to read to the audience like they used to do for the IS series."

"Why?" Rayne inquired.

I looked at her, shocked. "You don't know?" She shook her head. "This is the last book in the series before I start working on that six book series about girls with Ancientian powers, then once Simon finishes school I get to start following him around because he loves me & said it would be okay whenever there was something interesting going on." I climbed into the car & waited for Rayne to slip into the passenger seat.

"Why would you follow Simon?"

"He's going to some crime school so that he can join the SVU." I informed her. "He's had it in his mindset since Griffon had D.G."

"Does she even know that Thatch isn't her biological father?" Rayne wondered.

"Do you really think that she would want to find out that her father isn't the one that stuck his thing in her mom's thing?" I retorted, shuddering a little.

"Forget I asked." Rayne replied.

"Good." I felt my eye twitch. "Now, to Playmates. Or do you want me to drop you off somewhere?"

Rayne settled into the seat & thought about it. "Well, I guess I could help you, but only because Jules is a really good skater & I like watching her routines."

"You are so pathetic." I laughed. "You need a boyfriend, like, desperately."

Rayne huffed & crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever! At least I'm no Tweek."

"I'm twitching?" I asked.

"Like you're having a seizure." Rayne clarified. "But, you're not, I don't think. Maybe it's because of all that stress from all the stuff you've got going on."

"Probably." I agreed. "Since I don't have ADD or drink coffee, that's the only reason left."

"Like I said before: break, take one." Rayne urged me.

"But-" I began.

"Respect my authority & take some time off!" Rayne ordered loudly.

I winced. "Alright, just don't yell in my ear & I'll buy you a cupcake or something from Zane's bakery while we're picking Jules up."

Rayne clapped her hands. "Deal!"

After I finished all of my errands Rayne and I finally made it back home. We walked inside of the house and my parents and RJ were in the living room.

"Hello girls how was your day?" Mama asked.

"Hectic" I said putting Johnny's baby carrier down. "Can Rayne spend the night?" I asked. Since Rayne and I didn't go to school all the time she hung out a lot over here.

"Sure why not" Papa said with a shrug.

"Thanks we'll just be upstairs" I said before picking up the baby carrier again before walking upstairs. Later that night after Kari came to pick up Johnny , Rayne and I were sitting on my bed eating out of a tub of Ice cream I had picked up from Zane's bakery. We were talking about Rayne's past relationships which were a very funny subject to me. She only liked to date guys that played on sports team

"Okay let's start from the beginning. Football?" I said.

"3 guys" Rayne said.

"Baseball?" I said.

"3 guys again" Rayne said.

"Basketball?" I said.

"4 guys" Rayne said.

"Track and Field?" I said.

"5 guys" Rayne said.

"Tennis?" I said.

"Oh 1 guy the tennis team was slow this year" Rayne said.

"Soccer ?" I said knowing this was Rayne's favorite sport.

"Oh this year the Soccer team was very good to Rayne this year. 6 guys and the goalie" Rayne said.

"And this is how many years?" I asked.

"3" Rayne said with a shrug.

"See that's why you keep breaking up with boys" I said sitting up more.

"What do you mean?" Rayne said.

"You keep setting your standards high and then when they don't meet those standards you guys break up" I said. Then an idea struck my head. "Let's go to the mall this weekend" I said.

"C'mon Megan you know know I don't like to hang out at the mall. That's where undesirables hang out. Why would we want to go there?" Rayne said.

"To give you a makeover!" I said.

"Excuse me?" Rayne said sitting up.

"Yea Flannery's new line just came in at the store and she says she knows a lady there that if you buy something she'll give you a make over" I said.

"No, no, no. Megan no" Rayne said.

"Yes Rayne. If you get a new look then you can get a boyfriend a non athletic boyfriend" I said.

"You aren't going to leave me alone until I say yes aren't you" Rayne said.

"Yep now say yes" I said."Fine!" Rayne said flopping back on the bed. "This is stupid anyway" Rayne said.

"You aren't going to be saying that when you get a boyfriend" I said.

"Whatever. But you have to promise me that you won't cut my hair" Rayne said.

"I won't cut your hair" I said. "I am serious Megan I finally got my hair the length and color that I like if you cut it I will bite you so hard it will make you numb" I said.

"I won't cut your hair" I said.

"Spit shake on it" Rayne said.

"Eww c'mon Rayne I'm not going to do it" I said.

"C'mon Megan I'm letting you give me this dumb make over the least you can give me is one spit shake" Rayne said.

"Fine" I said. I spit on my hand as Rayne spit on hers and then we shook hands. "There you happy?" I said before walking into the bathroom to wash my hands.

"There now we can do this thing right" Rayne said.

**Ozzie's POV  
**Thomas, Nathan, James & I were sitting in the bookstore's café waiting for Meg, Rayne, Anya & whoever had replaced Willow.

"You guys need anything?" Thomas asked, trying to unhook his name tag. "My shift just ended, so now is the time I usually get the coffee girls to give me free cups. I can get you guys something."

James shook his head, his nose buried in one of his graphic novels. "I'm good."

Nathan looked over James's shoulder at the pages. "I thought you hated reading. What's so good that it has your attention?"

"A graphic novel by some guy who goes by the pen name Oswald." James explained, handing the book to Nathan. "He's the O'Henry of graphic novels."

I rolled my eyes & stared down at my coffee. "Those things turn you r brain to mush."

"Ozzie, over here." A voice called. I looked up & over at Megan & her friends. "Hey!"

"Hey, how long until Ray gets a boyfriend?" I wondered. I looked over at Frida & James, who were casting a glance at Thomas. He was blushing furiously & tried to distract himself with another failed attempt to remove the bookstore name tag.

"Nice comic, by the way." Megan whispered in my ear. She winked before taking a seat on my lap. I held a finger to my lips as a warning to be quiet.

Rayne rolled her eyes. "Thomas, hold still." She ordered, taking the tag in her hands & undoing the clasp. "There." She held it out to him.

No matter how hard I tried, I ended up snickering along with Nathan & Megan. "Clueless." I whispered to Megan.

"Be nice, Oswald." Megan replied quietly.

I stood up with Megan & downed the rest of my now cold coffee. "Well, let's get this over with. I need to be somewhere." I slapped my hand over Megan's mouth before she could make a comment. "Before I go insane from being surrounded by girls & watching one of them get a makeover."

"That sounds like something Nathan would say." Anya commented, pointing at the boy.

Nathan smirked. "Knock it off & I'll buy you a cookie the size of your head."

Anya drummed her fingers on the table for a minute. "Okay, I can do that."

"You know, I think Thomas & Ray are the only ones left in the group without a date for our party." James said to Nathan. "Isn't that right, broseph?"

"Hey, you're right." Nathan agreed, resting his head in his hands. "Gee, now if only there were a simple solution to that."

I glared at them & pulled the brothers to their feet by their hair. They say every group has a leader. You know, the guy that keeps the others out of trouble & bails them out when they do. I have a feeling that Megan's the leader of the girls & I'm stuck babysitting the boys. That also makes Thomas & Rayne our second-in-commands, being our closest friends.

"So, are we going to get Ray gussied up or not?" Frida asked impatiently.

Anye pulled Nathan out the door in the direction of the food court. "We'll catch up later. Nat owes me a giant cookie."

"Bye!" Frida called, waving to them. "Well, let's go already. Rayne isn't getting any prettier."

**Rayne's POV  
**I really hated my life right now how I let Megan drag me into this stupid make over I will never know. We walked into a store and saw Flannery behind counter.

"Hello teenage people" Flannery said.

"Hey Flannery what're you doing here?" Megan said.

"I'm branching out since one of the stores in the mall is closed I'm going to turn it into a clothing store for the Pale Lotus. I'm going to sell my line and my new line of shoes" Flannery said placing a neon green pump on the counter.

"Awesome" Megan said.

"I'm just covering for someone here and I'm looking employees if you girls want a resume they're by the door" Flannery said.

"I'll think about it sis but since you're here we need a favor" Megan said.

"Sure what is it?" Flannery said.

"Well because Rayne's bad luck with boys I want to give her a make over so she can go on a boyfriend hunt" Megan said.

"Just to let you know I had no say in this" I said folding my arms across my chest.

"Okay we can do that but in order to get the make over you'll have to buy something first" Flannery said pulling out a key

"Okay then let me get that necklace with the 'R' on it" Megan said.

"You got it" Flannery said. She used the Key to open up the glass counter and pulled out a silver necklace with the 'R' on it. "Here you that will be 16 dollars and 72 cents" Flannery said placing the velvet box on the counter.

"Here you are" Megan said handing a twenty.

"And 3 dollars and 28 cents is your change. Okay Rayne you ready?" Flannery said stepping from behind the counter.

"As ready as I'll ever be" I said with a shrug. I sat down in the chair and Flannery pulled out a bag with different sized makeup brushes.

"So Rayne what kind of boy are you looking for?" Flannery said while putting foundation on my face.

"Someone that won't break up with me after 3 weeks" I said shaking my head.

"And someone non sporty" Megan said.

"Ah I see" Flannery said brushing some blush on my cheeks. "Well after we get you a nice makeover and some new clothes then all the guys will want you" Flannery said.

"I guess so" I said with a shrug.

After a few minutes Flannery was done and she handed me a mirror.

"So Rayne what do you think?" Flannery said.

I looked at the mirror. I had full red lips, a pale green eye shadow which made my eyes pop, a slight red blush. "Wow" I said.

"Now let's get you some clothes" Flannery said putting her make up brushes away. Oh no what was coming next?

**Megan's POV  
**We were waiting outside of the dressing room for Rayne to come out.

"Rayne hurry up I haven't got all day!" Ozzie said.

"I suggest you shut up Oswald!" Rayne said.

"Ozzie cut Rayne some slack" I said.

"Fine but I don't see why I have to be here" Ozzie said.

"Because you love me and I said so. Now be quiet" I said. "Rayne c'mon let's see" I said.

"Fine" Rayne said. She walked out in a dark blue dress that stopped mid thigh with a yellow belt and light brown leather high heel boots. "Happy now?" Rayne said.

"Yes very happy" I said. "You look great" I said.

"This better get me a date or something or I'm going to be very mad with you Meg" Rayne said.

"Don't worry by the way you look right now you'll get a date by this weekend like that" I said with a snap of my fingers. "And I think I see someone now" I said looking as Thomas walked by

"Hey, Thomas." Ozzie yelled, waving him over. "What do you think of Rayne's new look?"

Thomas opened his mouth, but the only sound that came out was a low squeak while his face turned red.

"There's your answer." Ozzie stated, pushing the two closer. "Thomas, Rayne, would you like to go to James & Nathan's party together?"

Rayne looked Thomas up & down before smiling. "Sure."

I put a hand on Thomas's shoulder. "And since Thomas is currently unable to speak, I'm just gonna say he wants to go with you, too."

Ozzie snapped his fingers in front of Thomas's face. "I think you broke him, Rayne. Way to go!"

"Hey, Oz-man." Frida yelled, running into the store. "Since you sorta-kinda helped Rayne, maybe now you can help Meg before she goes insane."

My eye twitched again. "Hey!"

"Okay, let's try my writing exercise." Ozzie offered, dragging me away from everyone.

"Writing graphic novels is different from writing regular novels." I told him. "And everyone knows I'm writing, while you chose to use a not-so-creative pen name that deludes everyone into thinking the author's name isn't actually Oswald."

Ozzie shook his head. "Sure we have different styles & ways of doing it, but be it either a book or comic, you need to understand." I looked at him. "Okay, tell me what you see when you look at Rayne."

"I see a loyal, trustworthy friend who is down on her luck." I answered.

"Now Thomas." Ozzie instructed.

I looked at the dark haired boy. "A boy, who despite all odds, doesn't have a girlfriend because he turns girls down & is too afraid to ask the one girl he is madly in love with out."

"And now you see where the characters & plot twists & everything else comes from." Ozzie began. "You don't have to have access to records. Read the paper, watch the news, just look at your friends & you can have the last Anthony Bock book out in no time. And I know that, out of all the stuff that's happened here, nothing can compare to the Bock adventures, so you don't need Alex anymore. You just need to remember what you need to & think something up."

"Damn, you're right." I gasped.

Nathen walked over with Anya & James. "Meg, you're on the news."

I walked over to the video store, where the news was playing on one of the screens.

"Famous author Megan Mustang is going to end the Anthony Bock series, continuing from the last book, where Tony's wife & child were kidnapped by the serial murderer. But, according to our sources, the young woman has yet to finish even half the novel, & with her deadline only a week away, we may never find out what happens to Fiona & Stephanie." The newscaster announced.

I tugged at my hair. "Gah! What the hell? How did they find out?" I turned on my heel & went back over to the group. "I have to go!"

"But you're my ride." Rayne argued.

"I-I can give you a lift." Thomas offered.

Rayne accepted & I ran off. I had to finish that fucking novel fast!

I ran into the house and was stopped by Papa.

"Whoa Megan where's the fire?" Papa said.

"Sorry Papa but my reputation's at stake! I can't talk!" I said running towards stairs but Papa stopped me again.

"Wait Megan I'm taking your mother and your brother but I can't find my credit card" Papa said. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out Papa's credit card and tossed it to him.

"Here you are" I said.

"Megan!" Papa said as I ran upstairs.

"Sorry Papa can't talk right now!" I said before slamming my door. I quickly locked my door and sat down at my computer and quickly got typing. Much later into the night I looked at the clock and it was about 3 o'clock in the morning. I let out a yawn before pressing the print button. My door unlocked and Mama walked in with a concerned look on her face.

"Megan honey what're you doing it's three in the morning" Mama said.

"Sorry Mama but I had to finish my book the deadline is coming up soon" I said with a yawn.

"Why don't you just head on to bed. I'm pretty sure you're not going to school tomorrow" Mama said.

"Oh no not with the all nighter I just pulled" I said.

"Why don't you go to bed then. I promise I won't wake you up in the morning" Mama said.

"Thank you Mama" I said as Mama kissed my forehead. "Goodnight" I said.

"Goodnight" Mama said before walking out.

I took the paper off the printer and put into my purse so I could deliver it to the publisher in the morning.

I got up early to take the last part of the story to the publisher and then I came home and went to sleep. I woke up to my phone ringing off the hook.

"Hello?" I said sleepily.

"Hey Megan!" Frida said.

"Hello Frida" I said sleepily.

"You won't believe what I heard" Frida said.

"What is it?" I said sitting up more.

"Well I heard from Thomas who told Nat who told me that Thomas is planning to ask Rayne out to that sushi restaurant today!" Frida said.

"What?" I said. "The one that me, Rayne, and Anya go to all the time. Rayne's favorite?" I said.

"That's the one" Frida said.

"Do you know what time?" I asked. This was getting more interesting by the minute.

"Around 2:30 I think" Frida said.

"Okay then meet me then I have to make sure Rayne doesn't mess this up" I said.

"You got it" Frida said before hanging up. Today was going to be interesting.

**Jamie's POV  
**D.G., Cain, & I were sitting in the big pine tree again, watching Devon & Marc annoy some of the older kids. We had been spotting that freak of a man twice a week. It scared us to death.

"There he is." D.G. whispered. She pulled something out of hr backpack & aimed it at him.

"What's that?" Cain asked.

"Something my mom & Auntie Aqua made when they were in high school." D.G. explained. "It's a tracking device." She pulled the trigger & watched the tracker attach itself to the man's coat without him noticing.

I reached into D.G.'s bag & pulled out the locator. "I'll go give this to D.J."

"Yeah, do that." D.G. agreed.

I jumped down & went over to D.J. "Tracker is in place."

D.J. nodded. "Alright then."


	5. FF: V

**Alex's POV  
**I was sitting in my office getting ready to head off to go home until Lieutenant Lee came in.

"Lee what're you doing here? Where are the Lesser kids?" I said.

"They are at home with the their parents sir. Mrs. Lesser insisted that I bring this to you sir" Lee said handing a little black box to me.

"What is this?" I said.

"A tracking device sir. Dori placed a tracking device on the suspect" Lee said.

"Oh Dorothy you never let me down" I said out loud. "Lee gather up a search party and tell Lorenzo to meet me here and I want you and Hartly to stay with the Lessers" I said.

"Yes sir Colonel Bennet" Lee said before walking out. Once we caught this guy maybe we could get an investigation going.

Megan walked in next. "Hey Alex!"

"I thought you weren't allowed in my office." I said.

Megan shrugged. "Relax, I'm going to be gone in a little bit." She started cleaning out her desk.

"What're you doing?" I wondered.

"Don't you watch the news?" Megan asked in return. "I finished my book. The Bock series is finite, over, done for. I don't need you anymore."

I sighed. "Good to hear. What are you going to do now?"

"Ancienta. Since not a lot of people know about it, they'll think it's only fiction." Megan answered. She walked back out with all her stuff. "Ta-ta! See ya never!"

"Okay." I called back. "Bye. Oh, by the way…"

"What?" Megan asked, stopping at the door.

"Get that twitch checked out." I told her. She let out a frustrated yell & stomped out of the building. "Yep, that's Megan for ya."

**Megan's POV  
**Frida, Ozzie and I were sitting behind one of those fake bushes which were in front of the Sushi restaurant Rayne was standing there wearing a black strapless with big pink flower designs with bright green leaves on that stopped at the mid thigh and she had her hair in a messy ponytail. She was wearing black high heel pumps and was holding a black flower shaped purse with a pink center.

"Wow for Rayne she doesn't look all that bad" Ozzie said.

"Hey remember who your girlfriend is here" I said.

"Can't forget that" Ozzie said before kissing my cheek. "Am I forgiven?"

"Maybe" I said before turning back to face Rayne who was looking around for someone probably Thomas.

"She looks nervous" Frida said.

"Well Rayne considers going to a game as a date so she's never had a date outside of a stadium" I explained.

"That's sad" Ozzie said.

"Oh look there's Thomas" Frida walked over to Rayne and gave her a quick hug.

"Wow Rayne you look...amazing" Thomas said blushing.

"Thank you" Rayne said blushing slightly.

"So you ready to go in?" Thomas said extending his arm to her.

"Yea" Rayne said linking arms with him.

They walked inside and we quietly followed them in. We sat at a table as far away as possible so they couldn't see us but we could still hear them.

"What can I get for you?" The waitress said as she walked over to Rayne's table.

"I'll have the shrimp and vegetable tempura and rice bento" Rayne said. That's what she always got when we come here.

"And for you young man?" The waitress asked.

"I'll just have the number 4 sushi plate" Thomas said.

"Okay then they'll be right out" The waitress said before walking into the kitchen.

"So Thomas can I ask you a question?" Rayne asked.

"Sure" Thomas said with a shrug.

"I heard around school that you were a heart breaker. Care to explain?" Rayne said.

Ozzie and I hung our heads in frustration. "Rayne must you be so blunt?" I said.

Thomas shook his head a little.

"Is something wrong?" Rayne asked.

"No it's nothing like that. It's just that it's not that I'm a heart breaker it's just that when people ask me out I gently say no" Thomas said.

That made Rayne laugh a little. "Okay then how come when you had the chance to go with me you didn't gently say no?" Rayne said.

"Two things. One I asked you and you could've said no but you didn't and two because I was really hoping you would say yes" Thomas said blushing slightly.

"Oh and why is that?" Rayne said.

"Because you're the reason I said no to all of those girls Rayne" Thomas said.

"I knew it!" I said.

"Me?" Rayne said confused.

"Yea I wanted to ask you out but I guess I never got the courage to do it right" Thomas said.

Rayne let out a small smile before leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek which made Thomas blush like crazy. "Now you don't seem all that heartless to me" Rayne said leaning her head on her hand.

"Uh thank you" Thomas said.

"Listen that makes me feel really special that you were waiting just for me. I'll have to explain it to you later but not right now. So thank you" Rayne said. "So after this whole party thing is over you wanna try this thing out?" Rayne said.

"This thing? She can't be serious" Frida said.

"Sadly yes" I said.

"Wow" Ozzie said.

"Of course Rayne" Thomas said. He leaned in and gave Rayne a passionate kiss.

"Yes!" I said giving Frida a high five. Then my phone started pinging I looked at it and it was a message from Rayne. I looked over at Rayne and saw her mouthing words to me.

"Go away!" Rayne said.

"I am eating!" I mouthed holding up a piece of sushi.

"I don't like you" Rayne said.

I just let out a simple shrug at least the mission was accomplished

The next day, Thomas, Rayne, Oz, & I were supposed to go somewhere, but I either forgot or just didn't listen in the first place. Though I do wish I could've gone, I had a deadline for a short story for the American Girl magazine, so I stayed up late again.

"Megan." A voice called.

I yawned & sat up at my desk. "Oh, what did I sleep through this time?"

"Our double date." Ozzie answered. "If it helps, I slept through it, too. Had to stay up to work on my graphic novel."

"Not one bit." I replied. I yawned & moved over to my bed, falling back down. "I wanna go to sleep."

Ozzie pulled me back up. "No, Rayne is mad enough at you as it is. Do you know how much worse she'll get if she finds out you're blowing her off to sleep?"

I sat back down on the bed. "I only went to sleep about forty minutes ago. I don't give a damn about what Rayne thinks."

"Wow. You certainly keep yourself preoccupied." Ozzie said. "When do you take a break?"

"I'm not taking a break until I eventually pass out from exhaustion." I stated. I felt a sudden wave of insecurity & worry. "You don't need to worry. I'm just a little overworked for the moment. It'll settle down in no time."

"Yeah, sure." Ozzie agreed, obviously just agreeing to whatever I said.

"Gonna let me sleep now?" I sighed & plopped down beside me, pulling out his phone. "I guess it won't hurt her."

"So, what're you doing now?" I asked, turning around to face him.

"What do you think? Rayne sent me here, I have to tell her what's going on." Oz explained. "I'm also texting James & Nathan to tell them to make sure that neither Frida nor Anya come to wake you up."

I wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you, my prince." I told him before I fell asleep again.

**Ozzie's POV  
**By the time Meg woke up again, it was almost time for James & Nathan's party. We were all going to stay the night at their house afterwards, with the girls saying that they were staying because of their sister Shelly.

"Hey, almost time for the party, you know?" I told her when I saw her eyes open.

"Really?" Meg asked, rubbing her eyes.

I nodded & Megan got up & went to her closet. I laughed a little. "Sleep well, princess?"

Megan groaned. "If only. My normal dreams of far off kingdoms were interrupted by nightmares of Isaac &, well, you joining him."

"That's ridiculous." I snickered. "We hate each other with a fury unmatched."

"Craig & Eric hated each other." Megan began. "But then, after that huge fight last year, they became the best of friends."

"There's a difference between us & them that makes us sworn enemies." I told her.

Megan walked back out in some clean clothes & jumped back down on the bed, letting her hair out of the bun it was in. "And what might that be?"

"The fact that we're enemies because he can't get it in his head that you picked me." I said, leaning over her.

"Good point." Megan pointed out. She grabbed my shoulders & pulled me down closer to give me a kiss when-

"Eww!"

"Roy!" Megan both sat up to look at the boy.

RJ pointed at us. "That's disgusting." With that, he turned & ran.

"Get back here you little troll." Megan called to him. "I'll beat you to a bloody pulp." She got up & started after him.

I grabbed her waist & pulled her into my lap. "Relax, okay? He's gone." I said softly.

Megan sighed & leaned back against my chest. "He ruins everything."

"Don't be mad at him." I told her. "He's - what - eight?"

"That's no excuse." Megan huffed.

**Rayne's POV  
**I walked into Nathan and James even though I kinda didn't want to be here but I wanted to see Thomas again so I gathered all of my will and came to the party. Instead of wearing a dress like Megan and Flannery has told me too I decided to do something more causal. A black off the shoulder shirt, baggy blue jeans, and black wedge high heels. I started looking around for Thomas when people started calling my name.

"Hey Rayne looking good!" One boy said.

"Thanks" I said.

"Rayne love your black hair!" One girl said.

"Thank you" I said again.

"Hey Rayne" I heard a familiar voice say. I turned around and saw Thomas walking towards me.

"Hey Thomas" I said. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a small kiss.

"Are you okay? You seem a little sad" Thomas said as we sat down on one of the couches.

"Nah I'm fine I was just waiting for you" I said. I pressed my forehead against his and I closed my eyes for a few moments until I heard Megan's voice.

"Hey Rayne" Megan said.

"Hey" I said opening my eyes I saw Megan and Ozzie standing next to each other.

"Hey Rayne is something wrong?" Ozzie asked.

"No it's nothing" Rayne said. Then my phone began to ring. I took it out of my back pocket and looked at the caller I.D. I shook my head a little and stood up. "Can you excuse me for a moment?" I said. "I have something to take care of" I said.

"Okay then" Megan said. I walked outside and then ran to a lake that was nearby. My father was trying to get in contact with me and by what Alex and Marth told me I wanted nothing to do with him. He left me home by myself a lot and he was hardly any father to me if anything my Uncle Pat was my father. I got up to the edge of the lake and then I chucked my phone into the lake. I couldn't have him calling me every hour it was driving me crazy. It was ruining my life and I couldn't take it and I wouldn't take it. I could always get a new phone and change my number so it was really no big deal.

"Rayne!" I heard Megan's voice say. I turned around and saw Megan running towards me. "Rayne why did you get rid of your phone like that?" Megan asked.

"It's just a long story that I don't really want to go into can we go back to the party I just want to get back to my boyfriend" I said with a shrug.

"Oh okay then" Megan said.

**Megan's POV  
**"Being a lawyer sure does pay off." Thomas commented as we aimlessly walked around the Wells's house. "But having two lawyers…wow."

Nathan shrugged. "Well, it has its props."

"Karaoke!" I voice from downstairs yelled.

"Damn!" James cursed. "I though we hid the karaoke machine pretty well this time. How'd they find it.?"

"Didn't we put it in that compartment near the ceiling?" Anya wondered. "How'd they get up there?"

I shook my head when the music shut down for a minute before it came back on with kids singing terribly. "I'm going to go insane."

"Well, let's hide out in my room. I have a flat-screen we can watch." Nathan suggested, leading us down the hall. He swung open the door & instinctively covered Anya's eyes.

James did the same with Frida & Thomas with Rayne. Ozzie knew I had seen worse, so he didn't bother. I looked up at him & he simply shrugged & went back to watching the show.

"Not cool!" Nathan yelled. "If you're gonna do that, do it in James's room! Not mine!"

Willow & Xander scrambled to pick up their clothes. Frida, Rayne & I started to fake-cough. "Slut! Slut!" We hissed as they ran by.

"I would burn that bed if I were you." Anya suggested, trying not to laugh & failing quite miserably.

"Oh, yeah." Nathan agreed. "I guess we should try going to one of the guest rooms."

"The fourth floor has a big screen." James offered. "We could try there."

I giggled a little. "Nathan, they just went into James's room."

James gasped. "What? They took him seriously?" He ran down the hall & into his room. "Out!"

We made our we up the stairs to the fourth floor. James followed close behind. "Guys, people are starting to leave."

Nathan sighed. "As soon as someone gets caught trying to do it, everyone starts leaving." He pulled his brother down to sit between him & Frida. "That's a good thing, though. Now we don't have to worry about anything getting broken anymore."

"I thought that was why we had Nana." James scratched his head.

"Nana?" Frida repeated.

"Yep. Our parents are lawyers, of course they're never around. They tend to always be at the office until way late at night & leave before the sun rises. Nana has been our babysitter since we were little." Nathan explained to us.

I sat down on the bed in the room. "I really need to go, too."

"You are not leaving. If you leave, you'll just end up writing a jillion chapters of a book & you won't wake up until way past noon & you'll wake up early, as always, & you'll wear yourself out all over again & you'll keep doing that until you die of exhaustion." Frida rambled. "Break the habit!"

Nathan, Thomas & Anya shrugged & went over to the DVD rack. "I'm not getting involved." Thomas stated.

**Megan's POV  
**Rayne and I were in class there was an exam coming up and Mama made me go to make sure I understood what was going to be on the exam. I was semi-listening to the teacher when I heard snoring next to me. I looked over and saw Rayne snoring her head off.

"Rayne, Rayne" I said shaking her shoulder.

"Ms. Bennet!" The teacher said slamming his yardstick across the table.

"AH!" Rayne said waking up.

"I know I must put up with your antics when you're awake but by the school rules you must stay awake during class" The teacher said.

"Uh yes sir" Rayne said.

"Now then" The teacher said turning around. As soon as his back was towards us Rayne placed her head back on her desk.

"Rayne what's going on with you?" I said shaking her shoulder.

"Oh nothing I just didn't get any sleep last night when Thomas dropped me off" Rayne said with a shrug.

"You're worrying me dude" I said.

"It's nothing I'll talk about it later" Rayne said before putting her head back on the at lunch Rayne walked over and sat down and quickly placed her head on Thomas' shoulder.

"Alright Rayne what's going on with you?" I said. "I'm tired of you keeping me out of the loop"

"Fine I am tired because I was up all night cursing my dad out" Rayne said.

"Cursing your dad out?" Ozzie said.

"Yea he wants me to come to Limerick so we can reconcile but I don't want to and Alex and Marth don't want me to. He's been calling my nonstop for the past week so when I got the chance I chucked my phone into the lake by Nat's house and then I got a new one and changed my number" Rayne said with a shrug. "I think I'm going to go to Alex and get hooked up with a restraining order" Rayne said.

"Against your own dad?" Ozzie said.

"Noah is no father he's a horrible, horrible person you have no idea" Rayne said with a sigh. "That's why I felt so special when Thomas said he only wanted to date me and no one else because no one has made feel like I was important when I lived in Limerick" Rayne said looking up at Thomas.

"Of course you're special Rayne. Very special" Thomas said.

"Thanks" Rayne said. It was about time Rayne got a nice boy.

**Alex's POV  
**I opened the door to the warehouse the tracker had led us to & walked in. "Griffon?"

Griffon was sitting just inside on top of a chest, filing her nails. "Hey Alex."

"You were-" I began.

"Hell no!" Griffon interrupted.

"Then what-"

Griffon rolled her eyes & held up a second monitor. "Sorry, oh brother-in-law of mine, but your men take too long, having to deal with all that legal stuff. I couldn't just let my family go on, looking over their shoulders. I had to take matters into my own hands."

"That could've gotten you in a lot of trouble if it weren't me in charge of the investigation." I warned her.

"Yeah, listen up. Without me, you wouldn't have that tracker, the child who placed the tracker, or the suspect." Griffon countered. There was a loud thump from the trunk & Griffon fell down.

"Where is the suspect?" I asked, helping her up.

"Him?" Griffon reached into her pocket & pulled out a set of keys, tossing them to me. "Yeah, he's in the chest."

I stared after her as she walked out of the warehouse. "My family is so weird."

"I can still hear you." Griffon yelled back. "By the way, you might want to call your backup off."

"Right." I nodded & called the men off.

**Thatch's POV  
**"So, it's all over?" I asked.

"Handled it myself." Griffon replied proudly.

"Well, now that that's over. We can move to more pressing matters." I told her. "Do you really want to have another kid?"

"It's a Heights thing." Griffon sighed. "You know how I'm one of four kids?" I nodded. "Well, so was my dad. And his dad before that & his mom before that & her dad before that. As far as we can go back in our family history it's been that way. And they had four kids who had four kids who had four kids & so on."

"Uh…why?" I wondered.

"Well, you see, there's this legend in our family. The first recorded record of a Heights having four kids, as soon as that fourth kid was born, their miserable lives brightened. But, they ended up having a fifth kid & then their lives went back down the toilet. So, they told their kids, 'Your lives will be miserable unless you have four kids. No more, no less.' That's what we were all told. My dad told me, Kari & Freddie & Freddie told Megan whenever she was twelve. It's what all four of us have wanted."

I looked at her. "Next year, we're going to be taking care of another baby."

"Thank you!" Griffon said. She gave me a kiss. "And after that, I swear I'll get my tubes tied."

I felt myself sigh in relief. "One more thing: Your brother wants to pop the question."

Griffon looked up at me. "I so saw that coming."

**Flannery's POV  
**Aqua, Kari, and I were sitting outside of a cafe waiting for Griffon and Megan to show up. At least twice a month we all got together to discuss what we had been doing if we didn't get to see each other.

"Where are Griffon and Megan I want to stop drinking all of this tea" Aqua said placing the tea cup on the table.

"Calm down I'm sure they're coming" I said. Then as if on cue Griffon and Megan walked out of Griffon car and sat down.

"I'm sorry I was late I've been at the hospital all morning" Megan said.

"Hospital? Why what happened?" Kari asked.

"It's Rayne she had a nervous breakdown this morning" Megan said.

"Oh my gosh what happened?" I asked concerned.

"Well she told me that her dad had been trying to get in contact with her. He went a few days without calling her after she threw her phone in the lake" Megan said.

"She threw her phone in a lake?" Aqua said.

"Long story" Megan said. "Anyway she did well once she told me what was going on and why she was acting so weird" Megan said.

"But doesn't Rayne always act weird?" Kari said.

"Yea but a non Rayne weird" Megan said.

"Harsh. But continue" Aqua said.

"Anyway I was at her house going over the cover for the Ancienta book and then her dad came over" Megan said. "Rayne flipped out she started breathing funny and she busted out crying. Her dad placed his hand her shoulder and Rayne just passed out" Megan said. "Sadly for her dad Rayne's restraining order became final today so he was arrested" Megan said.

"Poor Rayne we'll have to go check on her later" I said.

"She was taking the nap the last time I saw her so maybe she'll be up" Megan said.

"Okay then we've been through Megan. Now Griffon what's been going on with you?" I said.

"Well Alexander caught the guy all thanks to me so no more Lesser family stalking and Thatch agreed!" Griffon said.

"So you guys are going to have another baby?" I said.

"Yep so no Heights family curse" Griffon said. "And Thatch told me that Freddie wants to pop the question" Griffon said.

"Oh I knew he would!" I said. "Tell them they can come see me if they need a wedding planner I'll give them the family discount" I said.

"I'll make sure to tell them that" Griffon said.

"So what about you Flannery?" Kari said.

"Yea Flan what have you been up to?" Aqua said.

"Well I've been hitting a string of bad luck" I said.

"What do you mean?" Kari said.

"I haven't gotten any new employees for the Pale Lotus clothing store and I can't open it without employees. Megan I thought you said you and Rayne would pick up a resume" I said.

"I never said that I said we would think about it. I'm an author and Rayne's an illustrator we're not fashion consultants" Megan said.

"You don't have to know about fashion you just need a great work ethic! And they use to call you the mini me of course you know a lot about fashion!" I said.

"Like I said we'll think about it" Megan said.

"Fine" I said.

"What about you Aqua how's your weeks been?" I asked.

"It's been kinda good but Marth's been saying stuff about having another baby" Aqua said.

"That's right Marth did want a girl when he found out you were pregnant" I said.

"I know but River's only 7 months old and I don't know if I want another baby right now" Aqua said. "I mean I want a baby too but not right now. I just can't" Aqua said with a shrug.

"Then just tell him Marth will understand" I said.

"Yea Marth's a reasonable guy" Kari said with a shrug.


	6. FF: VI

Later on, I was fixing one of the mannequins in my store. "Frida, let go!" I heard a voice yell.

"What did you do to your hair?" I asked Frida when she had managed to pull Megan & Anya over to me.

"Like it?" Frida asked, twirling a strand of electric blue hair in her fingers. "Manny said I should do it. I think it looks great."

"It certainly is…different." I told her.

"Thanks! Anyway, we want to apply for jobs here." Frida informed me. "Megan by a little more force than Anya."

Anya shrugged. "I was on my way here to apply anyway."

"Alright. I'll get the application forms." I assured them.

"You know. People like to shop at places that famous people get their clothes from." Anya suggested.

"And?" I quirked a brow.

"Hold that thought." Anya reached into her purse & pulled out a mini-megaphone. She walked back to the store entrance. "Who here likes books by Megan Mustang?" A bunch of people gathered around her. "Well this is where she buys her clothes. You can look just like the author when you get clothes from the Pale Lotus. They're eco-friendly & all at a low prices. Mere pennies to look like the teen sensation!"

The girls that had stopped went into the store without a second thought. "Fill out the forms later. I think I'll need your help now."

"I can't believe she would pull something like that." Megan gasped, staring wide-eyed at her friend.

**Kari's POV  
**"Hey Kari. I'm here for my volunteer time." Megan yelled, walking in through the front door. "I heard Simon had to start taking classes in the day, so I thought I could volunteer to help with the toddlers."

"Thank you, Megan." I told her, wiping my hands off. "They're in the back room watching a movie. And I might need you to go out & get lunch for the adults later on."

"Sure thing." Megan I had finished washing dishes from breakfast & had cleaned up the playground & playroom. I took Johnny out of the nursery to let Megan hold him.

I went out to the back room & opened the door softly. The movie was only halfway through & over half the kids were asleep. Megan was sitting in the usual spot for the teacher on duty, talking softly on her phone & bouncing Levi on her knee.

"Aunt Kari, did you & Simon ever fight?" Megan asked after waving me over.

"Not really. We've only had a small debate over the Heights curse & other small stuff. Never anything serious." I answered.

"Sorry, Frida, but I don't know anyone in my family that's had a serious break-up." Megan said into her phone. "Try talking to Rayne. Oh, you did? Well, if doesn't want you to be near Manny just because he's jealous, you might as well give it a shot."

"I'm going to leave." I said, more to myself than Megan. I turned back & looked down at Johnny. "Jonathon, don't you dare turn out like your aunts. Or uncle Alex, for that matter."

**Megan's POV  
**I sat in the dark room & listened to Frida cry. "Why did you even date James in the first place?"

"Anya really wanted to go out with Nathan, but he said that he promised James that he wouldn't date anyone until James did. I said I would go out with him so Anya would be happy." Frida squealed sadly.

"You didn't even want to go out with him in the first place?" I wondered. "Well, you & Manny have been best friends since Pre-K. If James can't except that, then maybe it's for the best." I sighed & laid Levi down on the floor beside Bradley now that he was asleep.

"What do I do?" Frida cried, sounding more desperate by the second.

"I'm not good with this stuff, Frida." I confessed. "Look, maybe this is a sign. Haven't you always had stronger feelings for Manny than just a friend."

"M'hmm." Frida whined.I took a deep breath. "Well, there you have it. Talk to him about it. I can guaranty something good will come out of talking to him."

"R-R-Really?" Frida stuttered, her voice still in the high pitch that it went into when she got upset.

"Really." I assured her. "Now, I have to take care of the toddlers."

"Bye!" Frida replied before the line went dead.

I felt a sudden wave of exhaustion. It was really dark in the back room. And my tiredness was made worse by the fact that there weren't any more kids awake in the room to help get to sleep & the movie was purposely boring in order to make them go to sleep. I wanted so badly to catch up on the sleep I had missed last night, but I shook it off & grabbed my thermos of coffee. I hated it even more than I hated Isaac, but it kept me awake.

"Maybe I should've slept period." I whispered. It was true that I hadn't closed my eyes to sleep in the past 24 hours, but I couldn't stop to rest now. There was too much left to do, especially since I was headed to check on Rayne right after lunch. She had to be worse off than me.

My head shot to the side in another spasm. "Shit!" I hissed loudly, my eye starting to twitch again.

I walked into Rayne's hospital room holding a vase of Rayne's favorite flowers bird of paradise. She was sitting up in bed watching T.V. When she saw me.

"Hey Meggie" Rayne said.

"Hey Ray how are you feeling?" I said placing the flowers on the bedside table.

"Pretty good except there was this male nurse guy that kinda looked like my dad and I passed out again" Rayne said with a shrug.

"So when can you get out of here. My Mama said you can stay with us for a bit if you don't feel like going home." I said.

"I just might take you up on that. They said 6 more hours of rest and then I can leave" Rayne said.

"Cool oh and I bought you this" I said. I pulled out a resume for the Pale Lotus and handed it to her.

"The Pale Lotus resume? I thought we were only thinking about it" Rayne said.

"I thought so too but of course Frida dragged me into it and then I thought about it more money for when you and I get our apartment for when we go find our apartment for college" I said. "If we save the money now then we can get a really nice place" I said.

"Yea I guess so and a little extra money never hurt" Rayne said pulling out her purse and digging inside before pulling out a pen. "How's it going with you?"

"I just need a break I might just clear my schedule for the week and just catch up on some sleep" I said sitting on her bed.

"Well why don't you just do that then? I do that all the time" Rayne said with a shrug.

"I don't I've got deadlines to make and interviews to do" I said with a shrug.

"Dear Meggie you may be a world-wide selling author but you are still a 16 year old girl. You've got a life outside of writing books and you've got to let these people know. You'll get to the story when you get to it" Rayne said.

I thought about it for a few minutes. "Rayne I know I don't say this enough but you are a genius! I know I can't do the whole when I get to it thing but these people have to understand that I'm 16 year old and I shouldn't base my life around my books. Of course I'm still not going to just quit" I said.

"Of course not. What else am I suppose to stop my door with?" Rayne said.

"Rayne! My books are not doorstops!" I said.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I read them sometimes!" Rayne said.

"Of course you do" I said shaking my head.

The next morning we were able to get Rayne moved into the guest room. Her Aunt Ruby and Uncle Pat had allowed Rayne to stay with us to get her head straight. She felt woozy at just the thought of her dad she was still shook up from that day and it would take her long time to recover. For some reason her old house reminded her of her father. Turns out when Rayne's Mom was pregnant with her, her mom and her dad broke up and he had a turn of bad luck so Ms. Ruby and Mr. Patrick let him stay with them because he is Mr. Patrick's brother. After Rayne's mom had died that gave her dad the chance to kidnap Rayne and take her to Limerick when Rayne was a few weeks old.

"Thanks for letting me Mrs. M." Rayne said.

"No problem Rayne stay here as long as you need to" Mama said as she and Papa stood in the doorway.

"Thank you" Rayne said.

"And Rayne please try not to steal anything" Papa said.

"Oh for letting me stay here you can have this back" Rayne said pulling a porcelain dog and placing it on the table near the bed.

"That's our porcelain dog" Papa said.

"Yea you have like twenty of them so I didn't think it would be a big deal" Rayne said with a shrug.

Papa let out a small growl and Mama placed her hand on his shoulder. "C'mon Roy let's go get the rest of Rayne's things." Mama said.

"Fine" Papa said before they both left.

"I love messing with your dad" Rayne said as I sat down at the edge of the bed.

"Why can't you leave him alone?" I said.

"Because I like that big vein that appears in his forehead it's so funny" Rayne said.

"You are so twisted dude" I said."Yea but a good kind of twisted" Rayne said.

Later that week Rayne, Anya, Frida and I were at the Pale Lotus clothing store and Flannery was behind the counter.

"Okay girls since I have to go and run the dress store I'm going to need to pick a manager to run the store. For one week you all are going to sell all that you can and whoever sells the most will be the new manager. I will be working the register so I can see your work with the customers" Flannery said.

**Griffon's POV  
**"I don't understand it, Thatch." I sighed, taking a drink of tea. "She hasn't been writing as much, but now she's been volunteering at the senior center & at Playmates. She keeps watching the kids more often & now she has jobs at the Pale Lotus & Gran's. She's just as bad as before."

Thatch shrugged in reply. "I can't explain it either. She was getting better that first week, but now she's right back into her old rut. She's got the twilight hours at Gran's store now that it's 24-hour & when I asked Gran about it, she said that Megan told her she was sleeping plenty."

"This is starting to worry me." I told him. "She wasn't like this. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten her started. Remember, I was the one who had to sent that first Infinity Sisters book in to the publisher."

"Don't blame yourself. No one could've figured out that she would get so-" Thatch began.

"Guys! I'm here to pick up Marc & Devon!" Megan called, coming in through the door.

"Hey, Meg." Thatch greeted. "How're you doing?"

Megan shrugged. "Pretty good. Just a little tired." She yawned.

Thatch's eyes widened & I heard something fall. I turned around to look at Megan. She was passed out on the floor. I picked up the phone, but Thatch forced my hand down. "Relax, okay. I'll just take her up to a spare room & she can rest. She doesn't need medical attention yet."

"You know that as soon as she wakes up, she's going to go right back into her overworked schedule." I countered. "There has to be something we can do to get her to stop."

"If you have to call someone, call your dad or one of her friends." Thatch instructed, picking Megan up & starting up the staircase.

I called Ozzie, seeing as how I had always wanted to see Thatch whenever I had traumatic experiences. It was just another Heights thing.

"Damn idiot." Ozzie cursed, sitting down by Megan.

Rayne, who had also come along with the rest of their group, punched Oz in the arm. "Be quiet, she's not an idiot."

"Why did she pass out?" Thomas wondered.

"Thatch says she exhausted herself & her brain just shut down from lack of sleep." I told them. "As long as she starts sleeping more, she'll be fine. But she will have to go to the hospital if it happens again."

Ozzie glared down at Megan's sleeping form. "She is a damn idiot. So am I. I didn't think she would actually do it."

"Do what?" Frida asked in a shrill tone.

"She told me she wouldn't rest until she passed out from exhaustion, but I never thought she would actually do it." Ozzie explained, tugging at his scarlet hair.

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, okay. It's basically everyone's & no one's fault. We all saw her doing this to herself. We should've done more than just talk to her, which makes it partly our fault. But, at the same time, she knew what was going on & still kept up with what she was doing, which means that we could've helped her if we tried."

"But why did she keep it up if she knew it was making her health deteriorate?" Nathan asked.

Anya chuckled a little. "Another date with your dictionary, I see."

"It's called a 'Word-a-Day' calendar." Nathan retorted.

"She's eager to please." I said quietly. "Get out & let her rest a little longer." I ordered. I kissed Megan's forehead & followed the teens out, closing the door behind me.

**Rayne's POV  
**Megan and I were doing what we always did on the weekend when we were hanging out with our friends or boyfriends. Sitting on her bed eating a tub of chocolate ice cream. With Flannery's help I had convinced Megan to cut down on the volunteer work. Right now we were just focused on the Pale Lotus because basically the pay was really good. She volunteering every now then twice a week mainly with Kari at playmates.

"So how's everything going with Thomas?" Megan asked.

"Pretty good he took me to the park the day and we spent half the day there" I said.

"Wow what'd all day?" Megan said.

"We talked, played a little catch, some badminton" I said with a shrug.

"But you mainly made out?" Megan said taking a bite of her ice cream.

"Bingo" I said. Then RJ ran in.

"Megan can I have some ice cream too?"RJ said.

"No" Megan said.

"Why not?" RJ said whining.

"Because I bought this with my own money and this is Megan and Rayne ice cream is your name Megan or Rayne?" Megan said.

"No" RJ said looking down.

"Then you can't have any" Megan said.

"You're no fair!" RJ said. "You're the worse baby sitter ever!" RJ said.

"Please I'm the best babysitter you'll ever have" Megan said.

"Are not. When Aqua babysits me she takes me to the toy store and buys me a new toy every time" RJ said.

"That's because Aqua owns an art gallery and a ballet studio I work at a fashion store. Besides Aqua always said you loved her most out of 5 of us girls when you were a baby" Megan said.

"Well maybe I do" RJ said.

"Now RJ you don't want to go and do that because Flannery, Griffon, and Kari love you too and don't you think you're being awfully mean" Megan said.

"Well I uh" RJ said.

"I'll tell you what Mama made fresh baked cookies before she left and she put them in the cookie jar. Why don't you grab a couple and then call Flannery, Griffon, and Kari and tell them how much you love them" Megan said standing up and pushing little Roy out of the room and closing the door. "And that's how you do it" Megan said lying down next to me.

"I'm so happy you're not my sister" I said shaking my head.

"Please I'm one of the best sisters ever" Megan said.

"Yea says you" I said shaking my head.

"So who do you think is going to make manager?" Megan said.

"Either you or Anya. I can tell" I said.

"Thanks" Megan said. "I can't wait" Megan said. "I hear from the girls at Flannery's dress shop that she pays really good"

"And we get a 75% on all of those Eco-friendly and low price clothes" I said. "And Flannery's asked me to design a new logo for the Pale Lotus stores" I said.

"Good for you got any ideas?" Megan said.

"What do you think of a bleeding skull?" I said kidding with a smirk.

"Rayne Flannery would kill you if you did that" Megan said.

"Yea I know I'll just do some sort of flower thing" I said with a shrug.

**Ozzie's POV  
**"Oswald!" Gran called from the front of the store. "There is someone here to see you!"

"Coming Gran." I told her. Halfway to the front of the store, Megan started down in the opposite direction, grabbing my arm & leading me right back to the break room.

"Here you go Ozzie." She said, holding out a package wrapped in bright blue paper. "Blue's all I could find."

"Why?" I quirked a brow & took it from her anyway.

"Because it's the first of March." Megan exclaimed. "Romanians give presents to their loved ones of the first of March in honour of the coming of spring & the renewal of relationships. Now do you get why I didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day? I'm sorry I made you mad when I told you I wouldn't get you a present."

"Yeah. I understand." I assured her.

"Well, why don't you open it?" She asked looking down at her watch. "Oh, my shift starts soon. I have to go." She gave me a kiss & left.

I tossed the package down on the table & sat down. Her crazy traditions, I thought, shaking my head. I picked the package up again.

I opened it up. It was a the first issues of my favourite mangas & graphic novels, autographed! "No. Way."

It's official: I have the best girlfriend in the world.

I called Thomas to have him get something. "Yes, I will pay you back. But the store can't hold it any longer, so it needs to be picked up today." I lied.

"Why do I have to buy it?" Thomas asked.

"I'm working!" I yelled. "I can't bail on Gran until Aria gets here."

"You so owe me, big time." Thomas replied. "Okay, I'm going into the store now."

I groaned. "Tell them that you're there to pick up something in the name of Oswald."

"Oswald?" Thomas repeated. "The graphic novelist? I knew it was you, Ozzie."

"Yeah, yeah. Just keep your mouth shut about it to the others." I told him.

"Oz, we need you up front." Gran called from the front.

"Alright." I headed back up front.

"We're going to have a group of people coming to pick up some supplies. A real bunch of nut cases." Gran explained, placing jars in cardboard boxes. "I want you to help them get it to wherever they're going."

"Uh, can't Aria do that?" I wondered. "I kind of want to do something for Megan."

"I suppose." Gran agreed.

"Thank you Gran." I gave her a hug & hurried to finish cleaning the store so that I could leave early. "I'm leaving now!" I reminded Gran, slipping by Aria on my way out the door.

"See you tomorrow, Oz." Gran & Aria called.

I waved to them, not really caring. I just wanted to get to Thomas. "I have to make it up to her." I whispered to myself. "I can't disrespect her traditions."

**Megan's POV  
**I walked into the Pale Lotus and Frida and Anya were waiting by the front desk. Flannery walked out of the back and sat down behind the counter.

"Oh good Megan you're here. Once Rayne gets here we can get started" Flannery said.

"Don't worry she said she was on her way" I said putting my bag down. Then Rayne ran in and bumped into me causing me to fall down. "Rayne what have we talked about? Walk don't run" I said as we both stood up.

"I'm sorry but you know how I don't like to be late" Rayne said. "And somehow I still end up late. How is that?" Rayne said rubbing her chin.

"Don't rattle your brain chika" I said laughing a little. Rayne may be smart like me but her blonde moments made me laugh.

"Okay girlies let's get down to business. The dress shop is opening back up tomorrow and I will be leaving to run it. After reviewing all you of you girls sales and customer reviews I think I have picked the perfect manager/assistant manager team" Flannery said.

"Come Flannery the suspense is killing me!" Frida said.

"Okay calm down, calm down. I've picked Anya as manager and Megan as assistant manager" Flannery said.

"Yes!" Rayne said.

"Rayne why are you happy?" Frida said.

"Yea you didn't win anything" Anya said.

"Says you! I don't have to do any work! And I don't have to come early to open the store! It's like freaking Christmas!" Rayne said. "Thank you Flannery you are the man!" Rayne said.

"Uh thank you?" Flannery said confused. "Anyway girls here are your keys to the store" Flannery said handing Anya and Me each key with a pale orange lotus key chain on it.

"Cute key chain" Anya said.

"Anyway if I feel that Frida and Rayne need keys to I will get them made. Here's your name tags make sure you wear them at all times" Flannery said handing us each a tag.

"Can I put spider man stickers on mine?" Rayne asked.

"Uh sure you can decorate them anytime you want" Flannery said with a shrug. "Sweetness" Rayne said.

"Now I still want people working at the store so if there are any new resumes then I want you to send them to me. I'll make my way over here and then Anya and I will interview together. The new store hours are 8 to 10, Megan, Rayne I'm going to need to be counting on you for those hours since you girls don't go to school that much anymore" Flannery said.

"Sure Megan can take the morning hours and I can take the afternoon hours" Rayne said.

"Why me?" I said.

"Because I'm lazy and your assistant manager" Rayne said.

"Oh Rayne" I said shaking my head.

"Let's see what else? Oh yes! Store employee T-shirts" Flannery said picking up a brown box. "These short sleeves and long sleeves for the winter. Green for Frida" Flannery said passing two shirts to Frida. "Blue for Rayne" Flannery said passing two shirt to Rayne "Red for Megan" Flannery said passing two shirt to me. "And yellow for Anya" Flannery said passing two shirt to Anya.

"Are you going for some sort of color scheme here?" I said holding up the red shirt with a lotus on the back and my name in white letters in the left corner.

"Maybe" Flannery said with a shrug.

"Why?" I said.

"Becuase I can and it's my store" Flannery said. She and Aqua always did pull that when we were growing up.

"I like it" Rayne said.

"Of course you do" Anya said.

"Now then paychecks are every other two weeks and call me if you have any problems" Flannery said.

"Yes ma'am" All four of us said.

**D.G.'s POV  
**I was sitting between Mama & Papa, watching TV. Devon & Marc were sitting in the recliner, asleep. "I can't believe I'm turning eight in a week!" I yelled.

"Sh, you'll wake the twins up." Mama said, holding a finger to her lips.

I mimed her actions & quieted down. "Sorry, but this is cool. I'm gonna be eight."

The TV flickered. "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this special announcement. A severe hurricane has hit the coast. We are asking any & all emergency medical staff to report to the area as soon as possible to assist in the recovery of injured victims." The newscaster announced.

"I'll dig your suitcases out." Mama sighed & stood up. "You're going to be driving all night."

I crawled into Papa's lap & hugged him. "You have to go again."

"I know, sweetie. I'll be back, though. You know that." He replied, kissing the top of my head. "But it's not like I'm not coming back."

"I know. You're no Jessica." I told him. "But you better bring back something really good if you miss my birthday."

Papa chuckled. "I won't miss it."

"You still have to get me something awesome." I reminded him.

"Don't I always?" He asked.I shrugged & hugged him again. "Bye papa." I got up & led a sleepy Marc & Devon to their room. They would freak out if they didn't wake up in their room, or close to each other.

"G'nugh." Devon mumbled when I pulled the covers over her.

I laughed at her. "Good night to you, too, Dev."

"Mimedrige." Marc groaned in his sleep.

"Yes, I'll see you in the morning." I assured him. I think I was pretty much the only one who could understand that, I slid down the banister to the McAllister's floor. I knocked on Tacey's door, then Tadeu's, & finally Tailyn's. "Guys, your brother is leaving again if you want to say goodbye."

The three were out the door & down the stairs in a flash. I shook my head & stopped at Tammy's old door before I remembered she had moved in with Freddie & Jamie. Old habits break hard.


	7. FF: VII

**D.G's POV  
**Monday morning, ISE Day, no school! I had to go to Kari's house for the day & Marc & Devon had managed to get an invite to Miss Dana's house to play with Levi. I knocked on the door & then pushed it open. She never remembered to lock it.

"Aunt Kari!" I called. "I'm here."

Kari ran out & grabbed my shoulders. "Hello, Dorothy. I need you to go to Freddie's house. Aunt Kari's in a spot of difficulty."

"Why does everyone trust me to walk around Central by myself?" I wondered aloud. "Can I just go to Zane's? It's closer & he gives me some of his homemade candy."

"Be back here in an hour & pick me up a pound of potato candy." Kari ordered, pulling out a ten. "Just keep whatever's left. I _have_ to go!"

"Bye!" I called as she rushed out the door. "Where's John?" I called out, realizing he wasn't in the house.

"With Megan." Came the answer as Kari's car sped off.

"Alright then." I locked the door, checking to make sure the spare key was still in it's hiding spot, just in case. As I started walking down the street, I started talking to myself. Not that anyone was there to hear me at this time of day. "Hmm, I wonder if mama's going to finally have a Dakota." She gave Marc the name he had because she didn't want to be one of those parents that gave twins names that start with the same letter. It was her pet peeve.

"That sounds like a cool name."

"Hey Cain." I greeted.

"What're you doing out here by yourself?" Cain wondered, falling into step beside me.

"I could ask you the same thing." I countered. I sighed, seeing the curiosity in his eyes as he shrugged in reply. "I was supposed to be with my Aunt Kari, but she freaked out & left & told me to go to my Uncle Freddie's. I told her I was going to the bakery slash candy shoppe instead because it was closer & I know the owner." I nudged him to get him to look at me. "You want to come with? I can get you free candy."

"I guess so." Cain agreed.

After the short walk to Zane's shop, I pushed open the doors & Cain pulled his bomber jacket on before following me inside. "I have to agree, it is pretty cold in here, but you tend to get used to it."

Zane - probably hearing me - walked out from the back, trying to wipe chocolate off of Juliet's face. "No more chocolate, Julie." He looked up at us. "Oh, hey D.G. Come for more taffy & jelly beans?"

"Nope. Kari wants me to pick up a pound of potato candy. And…" I looked around the glass containers. "I'll take a caramel apple with nuts & a chocolate turnover. What about you, Cain. Ooh, & those little licorice candies - or whatever they're called - please."

"Cherry turnover & plain caramel apple." Cain said quietly.

Juliet, who had been placed on the counter, jumped down & unlocked the pastry cabinet & picked out the turnovers to put in carryout boxes while her dad went over to the refrigerated corner to get the apples & potato candies.

Zane put everything in a bigger box. "Here you go. Ten bucks, with the friends of family discount - in this case family of friends - it's only six."

"Thanks Zane. Hey, Kari drove off, so can I stay here?" I asked, handing the plain apple to Cain & pulling mine out to take a bite. "She seemed really freaked."

"Well, the last time Hikari-Graeae wanted potato candy was…right when she got pregnant with Johnny." Zane commented, taking the money from me & opening the register. "Maybe you're going to have some more cousins soon. Or cousin." Then he shrugged when he heard Aria coming down the hall. "Of course, I could be wrong. My potato candy is award winning."

"Potato candy?" Aria asked, wrapping her arms around Zane & resting her head on his shoulder. "Is Kari really having another baby? So soon?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I have to go, anyway. Bye." I took Cain's hand. "Let's go, Cain."

"By the way, Dorothy, before you go. Can you tell your parents that I need to come over later today?" Aria called.

I turned around, looking like a deer in headlights with the caramel covered apple in my mouth. "I can tell my mom. Papa's out on the coast to help with the hurricane survivors."

"Oh." Aria paused. "Best wishes, then."

I nodded & pulled Cain out the doors. "Your kid's in the chocolate…again, apparently." Cain called over his shoulder.

"Aw, Julie." I heard Zane sigh in defeat. "Do I have to change the locks on those cases again?"

I couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey, here." Cain put three dollars in my hand. "To pay for my stuff."

"Oh, it's okay. It was mine to spend any way I choose it. It's on me." I took another bite of apple & handed the money back. "Consider it a delayed 'welcome to the neighborhood present.'"

**Megan's POV  
**Rayne was still living with us which I didn't mind because she was my best friend and it was nice to have another child in the house that wasn't my brother. I walked downstairs and Rayne was laying on the couch with her feet propped up on the arm even though she knew she wasn't suppose to do that. She was playing a hand held video game and had a brown cowboy hat on her head for some odd reason.

"Hey Rayne what're you doing?" I asked.

"Playing ultimate fighter" Rayne said.

"What's with the cowboy hat?" I said.

"Oh they were giving them out for free at the movie theater" Rayne said.

"Seriously why?" I said.

"Because that new cowboy movie is coming to town and it is going to be epic!" Rayne said sitting up. That made sense Rayne loved cowboy and western movies for some reason I think it's because of all of the fighting.

"That's great and all Rayne but aren't you suppose to doing something?" I said.

"Am I?" Rayne said.

"Yea didn't you tell me after you got home from work that Kari wanted you to pick up some more potato candy when you went to go pick up River for Marth and Aqua?" I said.

"Oh crud" Rayne said. "Can you come with me? It might take some the heat off of me" Rayne said.

"Sure" I said with a shrug.

After a quick stop to Zane's bakery we made our way over to Kari's house.

"Oh Rayne thank goodness!" Kari said giving Rayne a hug.

"Megan I'm confused" Rayne said.

"Right there with you dude" I said shaking my head.

"Well Kari I got your candy" Rayne said holding up a bag.

"Thank you so much" Kari said taking it from her. "You have no idea what this means to me" Kari said.

"Hey sis are you okay?" I said.

"Of course I'm fine I'm just so glad that Rayne took the time to bring me this candy" Kari said.

"But you asked me to bring it hours ago" Rayne said.

Then Kari started to get teary eyed. "Oh Rayne! How could forget about me?" Kari said.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Rayne said.

"It's okay I still love you" Kari said smiling again. Something was defiantly wrong.

**Rayne's POV**  
That Saturday I had work off so I decided to run some personal errands. I was at the flower shop when I was approached by two policemen. I didn't think I didn't do anything at least not yet.

"Rayne Elizabeth Sinclair Bennet" One of them said.

"That's me can I help you?" I said.

"Are you the daughter of Noah Jonathan Davidson?" The other one said. My last name was changed when my Uncle and Aunt adopted me.

"...Yes" I said choking back tears.

"We have him convicted of armed robbery, assault and battery, and grand theft auto. Your brothers Marshall Joseph Bennet and Alexander Vincent Bennet are ready to testify against him and since you use to live with him we were wondering if you would be willing to testify too" The other one said. He started talking again but I started zoning out again. Ever since the first time I passed out I had started having dreams and flashbacks.

~FLASHBACK~

I was eight years old again. I was sitting in my room coloring in my coloring book when my Dad came in holding a big black trash bag that was full.

"Hi Daddy what's that?" I said sitting up. "Is it toys?" I said getting excited.

"No princess some of Daddy's friends gave this to me" Noah said as he threw the trash bag in my closet.

"Can I see?" I said standing up.

"No angel make sure you don't touch this bag" Noah said.

"But why are you putting it in my closet?" I asked.

"Uh...So no bandits will steal it they'll never think to look in here" Noah said.

"Oh that makes sense" I said with a shrug.

~END FLASHBACK~

I would find out later that Noah had robbed a house and left the contents in my room.

"Ms. Bennet" One of the officers said snapping their finger in my face.

"Oh I'm sorry. Look can I get back to you or something?" I said with a shrug.

"Of course but if it's not to much trouble can you please get up with us in two weeks?" He said handing the card to me.

"Oh okay then" I said.

"Have a good day" They said before they walked off. I felt weak again with all of the thoughts that were rushing through my head at once.

"Rayne!" I heard another voice. I turned around and saw Thomas running towards me with a bright smile on his face.

"Thomas..." I said before I felt myself slipping into darkness.

**Alex's POV  
**I was getting ready to clock out and go check on Rayne because I haven't heard from her in a few days. "Alright boys I'll see you guys later" I said throwing my trench over my shoulder.

"Later Colonel" Giovanni said before they all walked out. I was getting ready to leave before the phone rang.

"This Colonel Bennet" I said.

"Colonel your wife is calling from an outside line" Gladys the phone connector said.

"Patch her through Gladys" I said with a small smile as I sat back down.

"Alexander" Flannery said.

"How's it going honey?" I said.

"Not good" Flannery said.

"Why what's wrong?" I said suddenly becoming alarmed.

"It's Rayne Alex I just got a call from Megan who got a call from Rayne's boyfriend that he found her unconscious by the flower market" Flannery said.

I let out a sigh. I thought Rayne was getting better. "I'm coming" I said. I stood up

"Good and get Marth while your over there" Flannery said.

"Right" I said. "I'll see you later"

"Bye" Flannery said. I hung up and ran to the the hospital ward of Central Headquarters.

"Oh hello Colonel Bennet what can I do for you?" The secretary said.

"I need my brother it's an emergency" I said sternly.

"Oh yes sir" She said. She picked the phone. "Doctor Colonel Bennet is requesting you" She said. "Okay then" She said before hanging up. "He'll be right out" She said.

"Great" I said folding my arms across my chest. A few moments later Marth walked in.

"Alex what's going on?" Marth said.

"It's Rayne we need to get over to the hospital she passed out again I'm pretty sure those stinking cops talked to her" I said.

"Damn why didn't they listen I told them this might happen" Marth said.

"We better get over there. And we might want to swing by Uncle Pat's house and get her pig it might calm down seeing as she's in the hospital again" I said."Right" Marth said. "Lois tell Doctor Borduex that I'll be back as soon as I can"

"Yes sir doctor" She said picking up the phone as we walked out.

**Griffon's POV  
**Kari & I were sitting in my living room. I was drinking a bottle of grape juice & munching pretzels while Kari had milk & potato candy. "You gonna tell him?"

"You?" She asked back.

"I'm not the one that did it on accident." I countered. "We were trying."

Kari sighed. "I don't want to have to do this when Johnny is only fifteen months old."

"I'll help you." I assured her. "I had to take care of Devon & Marc, & Thatch was gone half the time." I put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll get through it. We're here for you."

Kari started crying. "You are so sweet. Thank you, Griffon!"

"If you don't get over these mood swings of yours, I will slap you. Just like I did when you had Jonathon." I threatened. "You coming with me to say buy to Megan?"

"Nah, she knows I'll miss her. Just tell her not to make the plane crash." Kari slumped in her seat.

"How could she-" I dropped myself. "I don't want to know." I walked out the door & drove to Mama & Papa's house. Megan put her bags in the trunk & climbed in. "You tell everyone bye?"

"All except Ozzie." Megan answered, slipping her coat off & buckling her seatbelt. "I just can't."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Well, I have to go. I don't want to, but it's basically 'Go, or we'll send someone after you to drag you here.'" Megan hissed. "I can't believe it!"

I drove the rest of the way in silence, flipping on the radio to fill the void. When we got to the airport, Megan gave me a hug & said goodbye before leaving with her bags.

**Megan's POV  
**I can't believe I have to leave to go to a stupid book convention for famous novelists on the week of mine & Ozzie's one year anniversary. They had to pick _this_ week. Didn't they?

I reached into my carryon & pulled out Ozzie's gift. He had apologized so many times after figuring out that I had wanted to respect my ethnicity by not giving him a present for Valentine's Day. He bought me the cutest little citrine bear with an amethyst bowtie for March 1st as a way to show he appreciates my values.

The only good thing about this was that the hotel was near a beach, the weather was a lot warmer down there, & I was staying for a week, so I could hit the waves plenty.

"I can't believe I could get a plane ticket for so little money." I sighed & stared out the window, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. I still hated heights. I was really hoping to get rid of some of the money I didn't need. I also wanted the ticket to be too expensive, but we all know I can't _not_ afford something. I guess I could waste it on overpriced candy for the little kids.

When I landed, I went directly to the hotel, got the pullout couch out - the kind that folds out into a bed - flopped down, & cried my eyes out. I really didn't want to be here. I wanted to be with my boyfriend in Central. Not alone in Myrtle Beach. (I had to put the beach in.)

After fifteen minutes, I sat up & went into the bathroom to change into my bathing suit. The first day of the convention was tomorrow, so I could pretty much do whatever I wanted today.

After a twenty minute swim, I went back to the hotel to change back before heading to a bar on the pier. Anya & Frida had convinced me to get a fake ID, but I didn't use it unless I had to go to a stupid convention. The only way to survive those was to have a drink before & after each session.

I walked in, showed them my ID - which they totally bought - & sat down with the small menu. "You want anything?" A waiter asked. I had almost forgotten that this place was also a family restaurant, not that most of them don't have a bar, too.

"Shark Bite." I answered instinctively. I got one a few months ago when I came here with Anya & Frida for some shitty sweepstakes. I'm no alcoholic, though.

Shark Bite is a cocktail that is a combination of Bacardi Limón rum, SKYY Vodka, blue curacao, sweet and sour, and a dangerous dose of grenadine.

I was just happy - for the only time throughout the whole trip - that Ozzie wasn't here to see me near alcohol. He hates drinkers.

"It's going to be a long week." I sighed when the blue & red drink hit the table. I immediately picked it up & took a drink. I never really liked it, but it helped. Like coffee.

On my walk back to the hotel, I stopped & picked up some food & pop before going back up to my room. I sat down with my phone for a few minutes, finally mustering up the courage to flip it open & hit the third number on speed dial. "Hey, Oz." I love him, so his speed dial is the same as my favourite/lucky number: Three.

"Hey, princess. What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm in Myrtle Beach." I stated quickly.

"You thought ahead." He told me. "You knew I would try to go with you, so you waited until you were already there to tell me." I heard him laugh. "You thought ahead."

"Prince Charming, I'm so far ahead of you, we're in different time zones." I joked. "Literally!"

Ozzie laughed again. "I guess you win this time."

"I always win." I reminded him. "Well, I have to deal with a convention center full of super-fans & arrogant, pigheaded authors tomorrow. Night, Prince."

"Night Princess." Ozzie said back before the line went dead.

I went out to the beach again & sat down in the sand. I had to think about what went on before I had started dating Ozzie.

~FLASHBACK~

I sat down at a lunch table. I was just as bad with boys as Rayne. I had dated & dumped every boy on the hockey team but one: Ozzie. He was my best friend, tied with Rayne of course. So, I stuck to the other hockey team members. He didn't seem to mind that I was dating his friends.

"Hey, Megan!" Frida said as she & the other girls sat down by me. "I heard you got another boyfriend yesterday."

I nodded. "Ronan, the Romanian exchange student. He's staying with Oz."

"Speak of the Devil." Ozzie chimed as he & Ronan sat down. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing." Frida told him.

The remaining three seats of the eight seated table was soon filled by Thomas, Manny, & Nathan. James hung out with the basketball freaks during lunch instead of his girlfriend.

"Uh, Meg, I need to talk to you." Ronan said, tugging on my sleeve.

"Alright." I agreed. We stood up & walked out to the nearly empty halls. "What'd you need?"

"You're a cold-hearted snake." Ronan said. "Plain & simple."

"What?" I gasped.

Ronan looked at me like I was crazy. "You seriously don't know what you're doing?"

I shook my head. "No clue whatsoever, buddy boy." I confessed, putting my hands on my hips. "Care to explain?"

"You skipped two grades! How can you be so stupid?" He yelled in frustration. "Do you even think about Oz when you date boys from his hockey team right in front of him & them brag to him the next day? He loves you! And you're breaking his heart!"

I suddenly felt the urge to stare at the ground.

"He puts up with your playing around & it only hurts him even more when he hears you talking about it." Ronan shook his head & scoffed. "I can't believe you!"

I walked back to the table & kept my gaze down to avoid looking at anyone. I felt guilty. I was also really angry…at myself. How could I hurt someone as nice as Ozzie! I never wanted to even consider the option of him getting hurt in any sense of the word, which is why I used to strictly protest his playing hockey.

After school ended, I headed over to Gran's store, a little behind Ozzie. "Hey Oz. Can I talk to you?" I asked quietly.

"Sure," He agreed, "do you want to go to the back?" I was surprised he could actually hear me.

"Please." I nodded & we went down to the employee lounge. "Look, Oz, I'm really sorry."

Ozzie closed the door, he could probably tell that I wanted to talk privately. "About what?"

"Hurting you. Ronan said that it hurt you to see me dating all those guys." I explained. "It makes it even worse when I tell you about it. Doesn't it?"

"Well, yeah." Ozzie nodded & shrugged. "It made you happy, though, so I put up with it."

"Oh, Oz." I felt a pang of guilt deep in my chest. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to do that to you. I hate it when you get hurt."

"What?" Oz looked surprised.

I gave him a hug. "I never want to see you hurt. Physically or emotionally."

"Uh, why are you saying this?" Ozzie asked.

"Because, when I heard that I was hurting you, it made my chest hurt." I looked up at the taller teenager. "I can't think of a way to make it up to you."

He sat down on the couch & I followed his example. "I can think of something. But you probably wouldn't agree."

I got an idea. I got closer & pressed my lips to his. His eyes shot open in shock before he loosened up & started kissing back. When we finally broke apart, my arms trembled & I fell forward. Oz stopped me from falling into him & let me lean against him.

"We together?" He asked.

I smirked & looked up at him, stretching out across the couch so that my head was laying in his lap. "Oh, definitely. 'Bout time, huh?"

"Exactly my thoughts." He chuckled.

~END FLASHBACK~

I got up, brushing sand off my shorts & headed back to the hotel. I slipped into a short nightgown & slipped under the covers of the pullout bed. I hated sleeping in hotel beds. They always seemed lumpy & the covers were itchy to me. But that's just my opinion. I definitely couldn't wait for this week to be over!

**Rayne's POV**  
I was released from the hospital about 4 days after I passed out. I was waiting for Thomas to come and pick me up. He wanted to make me feel better by taking me out for some fun on the town. I walked out with my bag and my piggy and waited on the bench outside. It didn't take to long for him to show up. He got out of the car and walked over to me as I stood up.

"Hi" I said.

"Hey beautiful" Thomas said before giving me a kiss on the cheek which caused me to blush a little. "How are you feeling?" Thomas said tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Better" I said. "I'm just scared" I said with a shrug.

"There's nothing to be scared of" Thomas said wrapping me in a hug.

"Easier said than done" I said while wrapping my arms around him.

"It'll be okay I'll be right here" Thomas said kissing my forehead. "C'mon let's go get you something to eat. I know you don't like that nasty hospital food" Thomas said.

"You got that right" I said. He opened the door for me and I sat down.

"Okay let's get going? Sushi right?" Thomas said.

"Sure but Thomas?" I said.

"Yea?" Thomas said looking at me. I took my hand and rested it on his cheek. I gently pulled him over and pressed his lips against mine for a kiss that I've been waiting for ever since I first checked into the hospital. Moments later we broke away due to lack of oxygen. "Not that I don't mind but what was that for?" Thomas asked.

"Just for everything. You are hands down the best boyfriend I've ever had." I said pressing my forehead against his. We did that a lot for some reason.

"Well thank you and you were worth the wait" Thomas said. "Now c'mon let's go get you something to eat" Thomas said starting his car up.

"Okay" I said. I placed my hand on top of the hand that wasn't on the steering wheel. He picked it up and gave it a light kiss. It was official I was in love but we've only been dating for three months I don't know if I'm ready to tell him yet.

After Thomas dropped me off at Megan's house I walked in and RJ quickly clutched onto my leg.

"Rayne! Mommy! Daddy! Rayne's home!" RJ said. Then Mr. and Mrs. Mustang walked downstairs.

"Rayne are you feeling better?" Mrs. M said.

"Yes and if it's not to much trouble can I stay here for a bit longer?" I asked shyly.

"Sure Rayne just try and stay out of trouble" Mr. M said.

"Yes sir" I said. "Now if you'll excuse me I think I should take a nap" I said.

"Good idea Roy honey you need to let go of Rayne" Mrs. M said kneeling down.

"Aww man" RJ said letting go of me.

"It's okay we'll play once I get up" I said.

"Okay!" RJ said smiling.

I walked upstairs and pulled out my cell phone to call Megan.

"Hello?" Megan said.

"Hey chick how's America?" I said.

"It's very interesting I'm meeting lots of new people. I got you guys lots of presents" Megan said.

"Awesome" I said.

"So how are you doing?" Megan asked.

"Pretty good I just got back from a date with Thomas and your parents said I could stay here longer" I said with a shrug.

"Cool" Megan said. "I had the best Shark bite ever but don't tell anyone"

"I won't but I should be there drinking Shark bites too!" I said.

"Sorry Ray but it's writers convention not a writers and illustrators convention" Megan said.

"I guess you're right" I said. "Oh while you're over there you should try a bloody ninja" I said getting excited.

"Excuse me?" Megan said.

"It's the Japanese version of a bloody ninja except they use sake instead of vodka" I explained.

"Rayne I know this is a stupid question to ask but how do you know so much about cocktails?" Megan said.

"Sorry Megan but if I told you I'd have to kill you" I said. "Megan can I ask you a question? A serious question"

"Sure" Megan said.

"How did you know you were in love with Ozzie?" I said blushing a little

"I've always been in love with Ozzie I just had to my feelings into action" Megan said. I let out a sigh that really didn't help me. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I think I'm in love with Thomas but we've only been going out for about 3 months and I don't want to mess it up" I said.

"Look Thomas has been in love with you forever just tell him" Megan said. Still not helping!

"Thanks Meg you just go and do your thing at the beach and I'll hold down the fort here" I said.

"Thanks Ray I can always count on you. You rest up okay I don't to hear anything about fainting you hear me?" Megan said.

"Sure thing Mom" I said sarcastically. "I'm going to take a nap catch you later" I said before hanging up.


	8. FF: VIII

**Megan's POV  
**I stood on the edge of the pier with another two of the under-aged authors. I think their names were Devon & Diamond.

"Ready?" One of them asked. We nodded. "Jump!"

We jumped into a water just as a wave started crashing down. I felt someone wrap their arms around my waist. When I popped up above the water, that person was still holding me. I turned around & gasped. "Ozzie!"

"Miss me?" Ozzie asked, pulling me closer.

"So much!" I squealed. "What're you doing here? I thought you were still in Amestris."

"Couldn't let you miss our anniversary." Ozzie answered. "Besides, what's better for such a special occasion than a trip to the beach."

I saw Devon & Diamond snicker. "Get a room!" They laughed.

"Oh, yeah." I said slyly. "Come on, Oz. Let's go up to my room."

I waved goodbye as they laughed even harder & waved back. "See you tomorrow, Megan." Diamond called.

"What was that?" Ozzie asked. I pushed the door closed & tossed my towel on the lumpy bed.

"Friends. Young writing team. I got a free copy of one of their books as a gift, & I gave them each one of mine. I was immediately addicted." I explained.

Ozzie shrugged. "I got some news from Thomas' dad."

I looked back at him. "Why on Earth should we care about Thomas' dad?"

One thing about Thomas was that he didn't like talking about his dad's job. When asked, he would say his dad was the accountant for the local recording studio, but in truth, he was a recording contractor. He found the new talent in this drab world. Thomas had to stand around the front of the studio in clothes that were the exact opposite of what he liked & try & act cool to draw teenage girls into the studio for a demo CD to see if they were 'Worthy of having a future.'

He was the main reason they stayed in business. Girls came & paid for demo CDs & tried to flirt with Thomas. They would toss their hair & giggle & everything, but he never showed any interest & when they left, they would say "He is totally playing hard to get. He _so_ wants me."

Blonde bimbos.

"He said that his dad was talking to a big director about doing the music for a movie at his studio." Ozzie explained.

"You know, I still don't know how that affects us." I told him. "Where are your bags?"

Ozzie pulled the closet open. "Here." He said, motioning to where they were stacked in the floor.

"How did you learn to-" I stopped myself.

"Aquanette!" We stated together.

"Crazy woman." I sighed. Time to change the subject. "So, did you get an answer for me?"

"Yeah," Ozzie told me, "but she said it happened by accident. I think it's fate that they end up doing things around the same time."

"Yeah, but don't you think it's just a little weird that they got pregnant at the same time?" I wondered.

"Just a little." Oz shrugged. "So, can tomorrow be Bring-Your-Boyfriend-to-Work Day?" He asked.

"I guess." I answered with a shrug.

The next day, while Ozzie & I were headed to the stand I had to autograph books people brought in. A man came up to me. "How would you like to be in the movies?" He asked, flashing an obviously bleached smile.

I laughed. "You have to be kidding me. Look, I have to be somewhere." I walked past him & we sat down at my booth, which already had a huge line with people that were carrying multiple books.

"I'm not. We want to turn your book series into a movie." The man said. "We would also like for you to play one of the major roles."

"Heh, which series?" I scoffed, signing an Anthony Bock book.

"Two, actually. Manga & Infinity Sisters." The man confessed, leaning against the table. "What do you say?"

"Manga?" I asked, forgetting for a minute. "Oh, _that_ series. Sure, I agree…On one condition."

"What might that be?" The man asked.

"I want Rayne Bennet to get a leading role as well." Ozzie cleared his throat. "And, Oswald Wolfe."

"Er," He bit his lip, "_if_ they're good actors."

I flipped my cell phone open & hit my speed dial. "Rayne! Hi! I want you & Thomas here asap! You'll see."

"Oh, you're good." Ozzie commented, smirking. "So, are you going to get Rivera Studios to make the soundtrack?" He asked the man.

"Well…yes." He answered. "How did you-"

Ozzie held up a hand to stop him. "Yeah. You'll want to be on Thomas' good side. Trust me."

"He's the owner's son." I clarified.

The man nodded & held out a card. "Stop by when your friends show up. We'll discuss the contract."

"Contracts." Ozzie corrected.

I drove my elbow into his side. "Oz!" I hissed. I took the card & nodded before going back to signing. "Sure thing."

"Did you seriously just agree to have your books turned into movies? I thought you hated people that did that." Ozzie wondered.

I shrugged & drew a little curly 'M' on the inside cover of a book. "Yeah. I guess I did. No big deal, though. I won't agree unless I get to help decide what parts stay & what parts can be cut out."

"You're insane." Ozzie sighed.

I handed a book back & turned to him. "But you love me anyway. Otherwise, you wouldn't have flown out here. So, wanna go see Le Grand Cirque Adrenaline tonight?"

"Sounds good to me." Ozzie agreed.

I looked over at all the people still in line. "Let's give them a show before we see a show." I offered.

"Huh?" Ozzie tilted his head to the side.

I leaned over & kissed him. I smiled when I heard girls squealing. I pulled away & turned when I heard camera shutters. "Enjoy the kiss?" I asked.

There was another round of screams from girls. It was fun being famous sometimes.

**Rayne's POV**  
Megan and Ozzie said they wanted Thomas and me to come to America. America! Thanks to Anya and Frida for covering my shift and the Mustangs and my Aunt and Uncle for paying for our plane tickets. Thomas and I were on a plane heading towards Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I had never been on a plane before so I was clutching Thomas' hand.

"Oh my gosh I can't believe we're actually going to America!" I said. I had never set foot outside of Amestris so I was very excited.

"Rayne why don't you get some sleep?" Thomas said.

"Yea you're right" I said with a small yawn. I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes and I felt him kiss my forehead. At that point I wanted to tell him that I loved him but I still didn't want to mess it up. So I kept my mouth shut.

Early the next morning like 3 o'clock in the morning we arrived at the airport. Megan and Ozzie would be here to pick us up in about an hour. So Thomas and I just sat down on a bench.

"Ugh I'm so sleepy" I said laying my head on Thomas shoulder.

"Why don't you go to sleep I'll carry you back to whatever hotel we're going to" Thomas said.

"Thank you" I said as I closed my eyes again.

**Megan's POV  
** Ozzie and I walked into the airport and Thomas walked over to us with Rayne sleeping bridal style in his arms.

"Hey she's really knocked out huh?" I said.

"Yea she slept for half the trip" Thomas said.

"We'd better get back to the hotel" Ozzie said.

The next afternoon the four of us decided to go to the pool before we went to our meeting. Rayne and I were leaning against the edge with the jets massaging our backs and the boys were having swimming races.

"So they actually want to turn your books into movies" Rayne said before sipping her drink.

"Yep" I said. "And I want you to be in it"

"Awesome!" Rayne said. "I get to sing in a movie!" Rayne said.

"Rayne I didn't know you wanted to sing" I said.

"Oh yea I've always wanted to sing in a movie they get to hear my beautiful voice" Rayne said.

"But you aren't in chorus" I said.

"Oh no. I can let the man choose my music it's craziness" Rayne said.

"Oh Rayne" I said shaking my head.

"Cannonball!" One of the boys yelled. We looked up and the Ozzie and Thomas jump into the water causing a huge wave to splash us.

"Ah!" We both said.

"Sorry!" Thomas said. Rayne and I let just hung our heads and let out groan

"So, what books were they again?" Ozzie asked, walking over to our stuff & grabbing a towel.

"The Infinity Sisters & Manga." I answered.

"I don't remember Manga." Ozzie pointed out.

"You shouldn't. It was one of those chick novels about a girl & her friends being in a band. Just think of that bimbo Hannah Montana, only they sound better & aren't such attention hogs." I told him.

Thomas sat on the edge of the pool. "Why would you write something like that?"

"I lost a bet." I hissed, glaring at Rayne.

Ozzie slipped his watch back on. "We might want to start getting ready if we want to be there on time. You ready Thomas?"

"As I'll ever be." He sighed. "I can't believe my dad roped me into representing him when I told him why Griffon wanted me out here."

"The accountant?" Rayne wondered.

"The recording contractor." I corrected. "Thomas Rivera, Salem Rivera, Rudolpho Rivera, Manny Rivera." I said, naming him, his father, uncle, & cousin.

Rayne cocked her head to the side. "So you were lying to me." It was more of an answer than a question.

"I lie to everyone about it." Thomas confessed. "Recording contracts equal big bucks. People that do find out, only want a better chance at making it big time. My worst enemy became my 'best friend' because she thought it would get her a contract, but she sounded like a dieing cat, so we told her no. She moved away & sends me death threats every day now."

"And he has vowed to keep that secret along with the fact that he's been offered five recording contracts from three different studios." Ozzie offered.

"Six." He corrected. He slapped his hands over his mouth when he'd realized what he said.

"Look, he just didn't want anyone trying to use him." I explained to Rayne.

"I'm not mad. People try & use Megan, too." She said. "Books are a lot more popular than I thought. I can understand that you didn't want someone to betray your trust."

Thomas clapped his hands together & looked up. "There is a god."

"Why don't you ask your brother's band to play for the soundtracks?" I offered. I turned to Rayne. "It's Matt Willis."

"From Busted." Ozzie clarified. "Different dads, but they get along great."

"I guess I could ask." Thomas agreed. "Come on. Let's go get ready."

After getting into our best clothes, we headed down to the studio board room. The man from before was sitting at the end of a long table. "Ah, I see you're right on time." He pointed out.

"Pleasure to see you again, Mr. Rowley." I greeted, shaking his hand. "Now, shall we get down to business?"

Rowley chuckled. "You certainly don't like to beat around the bush, do you?"

"Look, I only have a few things to tell you if you want to turn my movies into books." I paused. "Wait, other way around: If you want to turn my books into movies. That's it!"

"What might that be?" Rowley wondered.

I drummed my fingers on the table. "I want to have a role in deciding what parts to cut & what parts to keep in." I pointed across the table at Ozzie, Rayne, & Thomas. "And I want them - along with me - to get roles. Be they minor or major, I want it based on their acting ability & any other things they might have to do & whether or not they can do it."

Thomas, who was rocking his chair on its hind legs with his feet propped up on the table, toppled backwards. "What?" He asked, jumping up. "I'm just supposed to be the representative for Rivera Studios."

"Sorry, _Thomas_, the roles just changed." I told him, putting emphasis on his name. He didn't like it to be pronounced like he was from Mexico or Spain, like some people did just because his dad is Dominican. He looks mostly like his mom anyway, like a born & raised American child with two American parents. "Besides, Rayne could end up having to kiss another dude right in front of you."

Thomas growled in response & pulled his chair back up, mumbling something in Portuguese.

"Oh, someone's pissed." I said, slightly enjoying his different attitude when he was in front of authority, or rather, a client.

Rowley cleared his throat. "Well, I can agree to those terms. Shall we get the contracts written up?"

"Of course." I agreed. "I think we'll enjoy this."

**Ozzie's POV  
**Thomas & I stared down at our clothes a month later. "Who would've thought that we'd be wearing these ridiculous duds." Thomas laughed, looking at his tattered clothes.

"I have to admit, I didn't really picture us as being major movie stars." I sighed. My clothes were black & I had black slashes painted on my face.

Rayne came out in a showy black empress robe & Megan followed behind her in bright, skimpy rainbow clothes. "I can't believe we actually got big parts in this thing. Lita, Fair Queen of the Pixies."

Devon, Marc, Juliet, Frida & Manny came out in tattered clothes like Thomas', only worse. "We're ready." Jules smiled. "Do you like my Zayo costume?"

"I love it." I said. I got to help pick the actors, & I wasn't the first to suggest members of Aria's theatre. They were happy to audition.

"I hate this." Anya whined, stepping out of the dressing rooms with Willow, who had come back to join the group after a public display of violence toward Isaac & Xander.

Since they were practically alike, they were picked to be Mary & Emmy. Nathan was Urion & River was being played by a friend, Dominic. There was also a bunch of other people we didn't know. Today was the first day of shooting, & there was a lot of buzz around the school, where people were shooting the opening scene & the last scene.

"Anya, we want you on location for the scene." Rowley called. Dude was the director. Imagine that! "You know your lines."

"All in here!" Anya called, tapping her head & walking over to a bunch of girls in cheerleading outfits like the one's she was wearing.

They did the scene ten times to get it from every angle. Then, they had some of us walk out to the stands, since they were filming a cheerleading practice on the football field. They did the routine again & we filed out to go meet up with Anya.

"Nice work, Emmy." Megan chimed. "You finally nailed that move."

"Yipee!" Frida scoffed. "Who cares? Cheerleading is just another way to make guys-"

Thomas slapped a hand over Frida's mouth. "Ignore her."

"Don't we always." I wondered.

"Well, yeah." Thomas agreed.

Megan put a weird look on her face. "I have a seriously huge case of déjà vu."

"Just forget it." I scoffed. "Pizza on me."

The point of the ending was that they all ended up being sent back to Earth to live normal lives & they end up being friend, even though they don't remember each other, except for Lita's déjà vu. And Thomas & Frida had tattered clothes because they were poor.

We ran the scene another few times before we were sent to wardrobe. Even though it was already a lot of hard work, this was turning out to be really fun pretending to be someone else.

**Megan's POV**  
Rayne and I walked up to Flannery and Alex's house. We wanted to get Flannery's input in it since I did base on of the characters. I rang the doorbell and Alex answered the door.

"Hey girls" Alex said.

"Hey Alex is Flannery here?" I asked.

"Sorry she's not here" Alex said.

"Well where is she? I have some questions to ask her" I said.

"Barcelona" Alex said.

"Barcelona?" Rayne and I said confused.

"Yea don't you remember? The anniversary of the twins' parents deaths are coming up later this week so she and Aquanette drove down to Barcelona and took the babies with them they'll be back in a few days" Alex said.

"Oh that's right I forgot" I said.

"If you need her then you can reach her at her cellphone" Alex said.

"Thanks" I said. Rayne and I returned back to the movie set where Anya and Willow were waiting.

"Well did you find Flannery?" Anya said.

"No she's out of town" I said.

"Well can you find her please! I'm nervous and I want to make sure I make the perfect Emmy" Anya said.

"Let me call her and see what she says" I said before I walked into Rayne and I's trailer.

"Hello?" Flannery said on the other side of the phone.

"Hey Flannery it's me Megan" I said.

"Oh hey Megan how's the store?" Flannery said.

"It's going great we've got a lot of money coming in. How's everything in Barcelona?" I asked.

"...Very stressful" Flannery said. You could hear the strain in her voice. "It's funny you know my dad always talked about his first grandchild and then he doesn't even live to even see her" Flannery said.

"Flannery are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm alright Megan. So what do you need?" Flannery said.

"Well I was going to ask you some questions for Anya but I don't know if I should ask them now" I said.

"No Megan it's fine I'm okay" Flannery said.

"Well she just wanted to know some things so she can be a better you, you know? So she can act like Flannery" I said.

"All she has to do is look inside of herself and if she knows she's a good actor then she is. She doesn't have to be Flannery she just have to be Anya. I know as well as Aqua that we don't want to be followed around we're business women Megan" Flannery said.

"I understand Flannery and thanks I think Anya can use this information" I said.

"Glad I could be of help" Flannery said before hanging up.

"That was quick did you get what you needed?" Rayne said looking up from her drawing.

"Yea Flannery may be in grieving but she's still pretty useful" I said smiling.

**D.G.'s POV**  
I looked around at my bags & sighed. While I was going to be staying at Bunica & Bunic's house, Marc & Devon were staying with Miss Dana, & the McAlisters were going to be with Tammy.

Mama walked in, looking a little a more stressed than normal. Her hair was sticking up in places & her clothes were wrinkled. "You ready? They're almost here."

I walked over. "Mama, you didn't take your medicine. Did you?"

She shook her head & sighed. "No sweetie. Try calling him again while I get it." She ordered, walking back out.

I held up the green phone & flipped it open. My hands started shaking as I scrolled through my contacts for his number. I held it up to my ear & listened.

"We're sorry, the number you are trying to reach is not available at the moment." The electronic voice chimed.

I snapped it shut & tossed it at the wall. Almost two months! We stopped hearing from him a few weeks ago, but he had left nearly two months ago. I ran downstairs with my bags & jumped into Bunic's car as fast as I could to stop from crying. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

"Dorothy." Bunica whispered, turning around. "You know he'll be fine."

"Come on, Gale." Bunic sighed. "You know your father will be back soon."

I cried even harder.

"Roy." Bunica hissed. "That's what Thatch calls her."

"He does not! He calls her…Gale. Oops." He chuckled a little. "My bad."

"It's fine." I sniffled, wiping my eyes. "I just miss him. We all do."

Bunica nodded. "We know sweetie."

"Your mom's going to the coast to see if he's okay, right?" Bunic wondered.

"Yeah. She says it's better than waiting for him to come home." I said quietly. "She got really pale & stopped sleeping. I'm worried about her, too."

Bunica reached out & put a hand on my shoulder. "Things will work out soon. Don't you worry."

**Griffon's POV**  
I walked into the main service area for the hospital & went directly to the woman at the desk. "Hello? Can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm wondering if there's a Thatcher Lesser here." I asked, rubbing my head.

"May I ask why?" The woman wondered.

I pulled at a tuft of hair. "I'm just worried. It's been nearly two months since he came here to help with the hurricane survivors."

"May I have a name?" The woman turned to her computer & started typing up something.

"Hadrea Lesser." I answered quietly. "Look is he here or not?"

The woman looked up at me. "It seems that he was hospitalized after an accident on sight. Came out of a two week long coma last week & has had amnesia for the past week."

"Oh, damn it, Thatch. What'll D.G. say now?" I grumbled.

"D.G.?" The woman quirked a brow.

"Our daughter." I answered. "Is it okay if I visit him?"

She smiled & nodded. "Room 419. Go right ahead."

I nodded & started walking up to the fourth floor. I was too impatient to wait for an elevator. I opened the door to his room. He looked confused to see me, like he'd never laid his eyes on me before.

"Thatch?" I asked.

"Yes?" He replied.

I walked over to his bed & sat down next to it, taking his hand. "I'm going to help you remember, okay?" He nodded. "My name is Hadrea. You can remember that, right?"

"Sure." He shrugged & nodded. "You're a very…beautiful woman. And you're pregnant."

"Yes. I have been for about three months." I told him.

"Who's the father?" He asked.

I laughed a little & said, "My husband, his name is Thatch, too."

He shook his head. "Imagine the coincidence. So, how long before I get my memory back?"

"Well, let's start with your kids." I offered.

"Sure. I didn't know I had kids." He looked down at his hand. "But I would like to see my wife." He said, tapping his ring.

"And you will." I assured him. "As soon as you remember."

Thatch smiled & nodded. "So, how many do I have?"

"Three." I told him. "One 8-year-old daughter named Dorothy, & 4-year-old twins Devon & Marc."

"Devon's a girl though. Right?" Thatch wondered.

I felt my eyes fill with tears, but didn't let them fall. "That's right." I squeezed his hand. "See, you'll remember in no time."

I was going to stay here until he remembered everything. It might take a while, but everyone else could wait & deal with it. I needed my husband back. Now!


	9. FF: IX

**Megan's POV  
**Ozzie, Rayne, & I were sitting around in the woods, watching Thomas, Frida, & the others doing a scene.

"I still can't believe this." Ozzie sighed, shaking his head.

"I can't believe I get to have a song on the soundtrack. Of course, it's gonna be used for the big scene between Lance & Raven." Rayne said, laughing a little.

"It's used to express the main feeling throughout the whole movie, though." I told her. "But really? 'Fear?' What kind of a song is that?"

"A really cool one, if you ask me." Rayne objected. "I heard the original by Stop Making Friends. It's awesome."

My phone rang. I held up a finger & flipped it open immediately. "Any luck? Please say you found him. Please say he's alive." I nearly shouted into the phone.

"He's fine." Griffon began. "Sort of. He has amnesia."

"So, he doesn't remember you?" I asked.

"Yeah. Basically. I'm working on trying to help him remember, but it's a slow process. It'll be a while before we come home." Griffon explained. "Can you tell the others?"

"Of course I will. Not a problem." I assured her.

"I owe you one, Meg. Bye."

I closed the phone & sighed. "Well, she found him."

"And he's alive?" Rayne wondered.

"Yeah, but he has amnesia. I guess he got in an accident or something." I said quietly. "Look, since today isn't my day on set, I'm going to tell the rest of the family."

"Buy Megan." They called.

After getting permission to leave, I went home & called my sisters to have them come over. I was sitting down on the stairs, waiting for the girls, when RJ went flying by, holding something in the air.

"Give her back!" D.G. yelled, stumbling down the stairs. "You'll break her stitches."

I looked up from my notebook. RJ had Bell Ann, D.G.'s doll. It was her first Christmas present, I know that. The cute little doll had a dress for every holiday & season. D.G. had even brought it with her on her first day of kindergarten. It was pretty much her most prized possession.

"Roy, give her the doll." I told him.

"Nope. She has to get it from me." He argued.

I stood up, grabbed his arm, & twisted it behind his back to make him let go of the doll. I picked it up & took D.G.'s hand. "Go get her a new outfit & I'll go wash this one." I told her, taking the dirty dress off & handing the cloth doll back to her. "Go straight to Nana if he tries to take her again."

"Thank you, May." D.G. said, hugging the doll close & heading back up to her room.

"Why do all the little kids call me 'May'?" I wondered aloud.

"Because they took a vote & said that May sounded pretty." RJ made a face & stomped off.

"Hey, stay here. We found out what happened to Thatch." I told him.

"Really?" He asked. "He gives us the best presents."

"That's because he's rich." I called back. "Now wait for your sisters."

**Aqua's POV  
**I was sitting in the bathroom waiting for the results of a home pregnancy. I was both excited and nervous. I wanted to give Marth another baby like he wanted but I kinda didn't want to have a baby right now since River was only 7 months old and he was my prince and I wanted to focus on him.

"Just a one more minute" I said looking at my watch.

"Hey Aqua" Marth said knocking on the door.

"Uh yes?" I said starting to get scared.

"Megan just called she wants you to go over to your dad's house" Marthsaid.

What now Megan? "Oh okay tell her I'll be there in a few minutes" I said.

"Okay hey are you okay in there?" Marth said.

"Yea I'm okay just a little sick" I said. It wasn't completely a lie I was having morning sickness. "I'll be out in just minute okay" I said.

"Okay then" Marth said before I heard him walk away. I let out a sigh before I looked at the pregnancy test. I threw it away before walking into River's room where he was taking a nap.

"Hello my sweet little prince. Looks like you might be getting a little brother or sister. But know that mommy always loves you no matter what" I said before kissing his forehead. I grabbed my purse and kissed Marth before walking out.

I met up with Flannery at the end of the driveway and we decided to walk up together. Since she was my sister I decided to tell her first.

"Hey Flannery can I get a favor?" I asked.

"Sure Aqua what is it?" Flannery asked.

"You can't tell anyone just yet but I took a home pregnancy test before I came here and I might be pregnant and I wanted to know if you could come to the doctor with me when I make the appointment?" I asked.

"Sure Aqua I'd love to" Flannery said.

"Thanks but don't tell anyone not even Alexander" I said.

"I won't" Flannery said as we hooked pinkies like we did when we were 16. We walked inside and Mommy and Daddy were sitting on the couch.

"Aquanette!" RJ said as he ran downstairs and into my arm. I picked him up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"How's my little man?" I said before sitting down in Daddy's arm chair. "Have you been good?" I said.

Before RJ could answer Megan walked downstairs. "Nope" Megan said.

"Hey shut up Megan!" RJ said.

"Hey now play nice when your sisters are over" Mommy said.

"Yes ma'am" Megan and RJ said.

"Now all we have to do is wait for Kari" Megan said.

"Megan what's this all about?" Flannery asked.

"It's important I promise" Megan said.

"Aqua did you bring me a present from Barcelona?" RJ asked.

"Roy! Don't be greedy" Daddy said.

"Yes sir" RJ said looking down.

"It's okay Daddy I did bring you a present but it's at my house so you'll have to wait. But you have to be extra good for Mommy, Daddy and Megan to get it okay?" I said. "You promise me that?" I said.

"I promise Sissy" RJ said.

"Good boy" I said before kissing his temple.

"Hey!" Kari said as she walked inside of the house. "I'm sorry I'm late the parents were a little late picking their kids up today" Kari said before putting her purse down.

"It's fine Kari" Megan said. "So thank you for coming. Griffon asked me to do this so I'm going to this now" Megan said.

"Megan is there something wrong with Griffon?" Mommy asked.

"No it's nothing like that. It's about Thatch" Megan said.

"So there's something wrong with Thatch?" I said.

"Well yes" Megan said. "He's got amnesia" Megan said.

"What how?" Flannery asked.

"Griffon said he got into an accident while working with the hurricane. She's going to stay with him for a little bit help him remember some things" Megan said.

"I knew that whole rescue team thing was a bad idea" Flannery said.

"Yea I thought Thatch might get hurt doing this" I said.

"Now girls we can't be negative about this. We may have our opinions of this but for right now we need to help Griffon and Thatch get through this for the sake of Dorothy, Devon, and Marc" Mommy said.

"Not to mention Corey." Kari said.

"Yea you're right" I said. Time for some sisterly duty.

**Thatch's POV  
**I rubbed my head & sat up in the hospital bed. My head still hurt from something that happened months ago. Something involving concrete or lead pipes or…something. I'm still cloudy in that area.

I looked over to Hadrea. She was helping me remember my family & where I lived. Stuff in that area.

I remembered my brother & sisters, my kids, my parents. I knew I loved black cherries & I knew I was allergic to mushrooms. I knew my wife was pregnant, but that was all. I could remember about her.

Of course, I was lucky enough to remember my name, but not a phone number or address.

"Oh, hey. You're awake." Hadrea smiled. "I have one last exercise to try. Okay?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay then, just give me one second." She said. I waited while she got up & walked around. "Do you know anything a member of your family does that gets on your nerves?"

"I know it bothers me when people crack their knuckles." I shrugged.

Hadrea smirked & started cracking their knuckles. "Alright then."

I groaned. It bugs the hell out of me. "Griffon, knock it off, already." I yelled. Wait, what did I just call her.

The woman paused. "What did you call me?"

"Uh, Griffon." I confessed. "Sorry, it just happened. I don't really know where it came from."

Hadrea smiled. "No, that's great!"

"It is?" I asked.

"Yes!" She gave me a hug & smiled. "That's your wife!"

"Griffon?" I wondered. "Is her name?"

"It's her middle name. everyone calls her by it." Hadrea sighed, waving a hand to dismiss it. "But it's a step. You're starting to remember. Although I would like it if I could just hit you with something & your memories come back."

"There's an option." I heard a voice say. I turned to the door. There was a woman standing there that looked exactly like Hadrea, only, more pregnant.

"Kari?" Hadrea gasped. She started pushing the other woman out the door. She stopped & stuck her head back through the doorframe. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Right. Go ahead." I told her. "Not like I'm allowed to go anywhere."

**Griffon's POV  
**"Hikari-Graeae Yang Moore! What are you doing here?" I hissed.

"Look, I think that, however you're trying to get his memory back, you need to find a quicker way." Kari said.

"Why?" I wondered.

"One: Aria has something really important to show us & she says all of us have to be there. Two: Your kids will be growing up without a father. Three: Every wife needs her husband." Kari stated her weird philosophy.

"I'm trying." I argued.

"Did you try hitting him upside the head with a bedpan?" Kari asked.

"I should hit you." I gasped. "You know what? If you think it's such a good idea, why don't you do it?"

Kari shrugged & went back in. "Alright."

I heard a thud. By the time I turned around, Kari had the bedpan behind her back, whistling loudly. Thatch was holding his already hurt head & was about to yell.

"Kari, what that hell?" He yelled. He stared at her. "Wait, I remember you. I remember everything!"

"You're welcome." Kari grumbled.

Thatch sighed & rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Hikari-Graeae." He mumbled sarcastically.

"That's all I needed to hear!" Kari cheered. "You ready to come home?"

"More than ever." He replied.

I smiled a little & leaned against the doorframe. "Welcome back, Thatcher."

Thatch looked up at me. "Thank you, Griffon. Nice acting, by the way."

I looked down. "I didn't want to freak you out by just going up & saying I was your wife. I was trying to get you to remember on your own."

"Nurse!" Thatch yelled suddenly, probably spotting one outside the door.

True to my suspicion, a nurse came in immediately. "Yes, Dr. Lesser?"

"Can I go home with my wife & sister-in-law now?" He whined, slumping his shoulders & putting on a puppy dog face. The 25-year-old still had a childish look, making him the only one who could still pull it off at his age.

"Uh…I suppose." The nurse agreed. "I'll just have to check with your doctor."

The nurse walked back out & I snapped my fingers, getting the two to straighten up. "Screw the nurse, go sign Thatch out, Kari."

"Right-y 'o, govna!" Kari piped in the fakest British accent you ever did hear. She skipped out of the room humming a little tune.

I pointed over my shoulder. "She wasn't like this the last time she got pregnant."

"That's because every pregnancy is different." Thatch explained, still rubbing his head. "For instance, you're barely showing. That happens sometimes."

"Yeah, I've seen the show about it. 'I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant.'" I told him. "I actually like it. Almost as much as 'Doctor G' & 'Monsters Inside Me'. Now get up & get dressed. You're going home."

Thatch saluted & got out of bed. "Right away, Miss Yin."

**Flannery's POV**  
It was Saturday so Alex and I were relaxing on our bed watching Soleil crawl around on the bed. I started to think about my sister's and then I let out a sigh.

"What's wrong babe?" Alex asked as he picked up Soleil and placed her in between us.

"I'm just thinking about my sisters. Aqua, Griffon, and Kari are all pregnant again and here I am the working woman" I said.

"Wait Aqua's pregnant?" Alex said.

"...I wasn't suppose to tell you that" I said. "Yes Aqua is pregnant and she's waiting for the right time to tell Marth but please don't tell your brother. Aqua will kill me" I said.

"I won't tell" Alex said. "Now back to what we were talking about. Do you really want to have another baby?" Alex said.

"I don't know. I mean I have a business now. With the dress shop and the store" I said.

"But you have Anya and Megan and you guys are getting new employees all the time and you have the girls at the dress shop. And Soleil is learning how to walk and she's being just like her mother. So independent" Alex said before kissing my temple which made me giggle.

"I don't know I'll think about it. But you have to promise me right here and now that if I have another baby then you have to stay home more and help with Soleil. She may be becoming independent but she is still a baby" I said.

"I promise" Alex said before giving me a small kiss. "So if we do have another baby? What're we going to name it?" Alex asked.

"Either Alexander Jr. if it's a boy or Carly Michelle if it's a girl. But I have a feeling it might be boy if we have one" I said. "Like I said I'm still thinking about it"

"Okay then. You just take all the time you need" Alex said before giving me a small kiss.

**Aria's POV  
**"Oh, thank God!" I sighed, rushing from behind the counter at the sight of the man walking through the door. I ran over & pretty much pounced on him. "You're back."

"Yeah."

"And you're not dead."

"No, I am not."

Griffon rapped her knuckles on the side of my head. "Off my husband."

"Oh, right." I released Thatch & took a few steps back. "Sorry, but all of us were caught a little off guard hearing you were M.I.A."

"And…I'm sorry for that." Thatch mumbled.

"Don't be sorry." I told him. "Not like you could've done anything about it."

Thatch rubbed his head. "No, I'm sorry. Kari hit me with a bedpan."

"But, hey, now you remember us." I offered. "Anyway, why'd you come here."

Griffon shrugged. "Kari told us to come here while she gathers everyone, kids included, at mama & papa's house."

"Well, since you're here." I went back to the counter & pulled out two invitation. I held them out. "There's this really fancy new restaurant opening & Zane worked his butt off to get these spots for the opening night."

Griffon opened her mouth to say something when there was yelling from outside. "I said to let go!" A girl yelled.

"Not a chance!" The man yelled back.

I opened the door & looked around. "What the hell?" I mumbled.

"Hey, let go! Quit!" The voice came again.

Thatch walked down to the alley a few buildings down & came back with Isaac Briers & a very frightened, crying Megan in a ripped shirt holding onto Thatch desperately.

"Megan?" Griffon called, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. "What happened?"

Megan shook her head. "Can you just take me home?"

Griffon nodded & put an arm around Megan. "Come on, Aria can take care of Isaac."

"Oh, sounds fun." I smiled evilly & crack my knuckles, much to Thatch's displeasure.

"You can't kill him." Thatch warned, letting his iron grip on Isaac arm go.

I slumped my shoulders. "You're no fun." I joked. "Can I break one of his legs?"

"No." Came the reply.

I grabbed the teen as he tried to split. "Fine, I'll just let the cops deal with him."

"You wouldn't." Isaac squeaked.

"Try me." I hissed, pulling him over to my car. I leaned back in the door. "Zane, I have to go run an errand."

"Alright." He called back, popping up from the back of the store.

"Thank you!"

**Kari's POV  
**"What's this all about, Hikari-Graeae?" Aqua wondered.

"I'll explain when Megan gets here." I assured them, looking down at my watch. "She should be here by now."

The door opened & Ozzie walked in. "Uh, sorry to barge in, but." He waved someone over & gave them a hug before leading her inside.

"Megan, what happened?" Mama wondered, rushing over to her.

"Isaac tried to-" Megan began.

"That's all I need to hear." I called, heading outside. "Who wants to help me kill the son of a bitch?"

"No need. Aria's taking care of it." Ozzie assured us. "On a brighter note, however…"

"We're back!" Griffon continued, coming through the door with Thatch.

The man was tackled by six little people, knocking him to the ground.

I sighed & clasped my hands together. "I just love a happy ending."

"Only it can't be over yet." Flannery objected.

"You missed my birthday." D.G. told him. "I love you, papa, but you owe me big time."

"See?" Flannery chirped.

Thatch held out a gift bag & smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Gale. Here you go."

D.G. smiled again & kissed her father's cheek. "That's my papa."

**Aqua's POV  
**Even though Aria was handling this Flannery and I still wanted to do something. So thanks to her husband we were able to get into the police station. We saw Issac sitting in the cell.

"Can I help you ladies?" The man said.

"Yes that little boy in there is our nephew and we want to help him through this very tough time" Flannery said.

"You can trust us we're the Furher's daughters" I said. That got us almost everywhere.

"Of course. Praise Furher Mustang" The man said. That got annoying fast.

"Yea, yea. Now if it's not to much trouble could you please leave? This is a family affair" Flannery said.

"Oh yes ma'am" The man said. "Come forward inmate. I'll leave you ladies alone" The man said before walking out.

We walked over to Issac who tried to run away to the back of the cell but Flannery and I grabbed him before he could. We yanked him back over so he face to face to us.

"Now you listen to us Issac because we're not going to repeat ourselves okay?" I said. Issac let out a scared nod.

"If you ever try to do anything like that to my sister again, if you even come near my sister. Some very bad things are going to happen to you. Don't you ever try to do that to anyone ever again or bad things will happen to you" I said.

"If this every happens again I going to force my fist so far down your throat will be dancing with my wedding ring. Do you understand?" Flannery said shaking her left fist.

"Yes ma'am and I'm sorry" Issac said.

"Don't say sorry to us. You can say sorry to Megan in court" I said before we pushed him back down.

"Wait court?" Issac said getting scared.

"Bye Issac" I said before we walked out. We walked over to the guard who was leaning against the wall. "Can you keep this a secret? We were never here" I said before handing him 200 dollars.

"Oh yes ma'am!" The man said taking the money. We walked outside before climbing into Flannery's car.

"We still got it" Flannery said.

"True that my sister" I said before we gave each other a high five.


	10. FF: X

**Thatch's POV  
**"You really think he's going to jail." I repeated Griffon's words.

"For a long time." Griffon clarified, slipping into her dress. "Megan is sixteen. Isaac is nineteen. She's still a minor." Oh, yeah. Issac got held back.

"You do have a point." I agreed. I fumbled with the buttons on my shirt, waiting for Griffon to finish getting ready.

Griffon sighed, putting her earrings in. "What does Aria have up her sleeve?"

"Just because she invited you to a restaurant, you think she's up to something." I countered.

"Not just us, the kids, the twins, Kari, their kids." Griffon ranted. "It's not right."

"You're just paranoid." I told her.

Griffon turned around & huffed, "That may be so, but I'm right."

"Let's just go." I spun her back around & pushed her out of the bedroom. "We don't want to be late, now do we?"

"Kids, time to go." Griffon yelled.

The doors to their rooms opened & they went out & down the stairs, out to the car with us trailing behind them.

"What does she have planned?" I heard Griffon mumble again as I started the van.

"We are definitely going to need a new car." I commented, changing the subject. "We barely have enough room for the kids now. How're we supposed to find room for number four?"

"We buy a van from Kari, those fit fourteen people & Kari knows where to buy them from." Griffon offered.

We pulled into the restaurant & the seven piled out of the van & through the doors of the building.

"Welcome to Exotic Wonderland. Do you have an invitation?" A woman behind a podium greeted, looking down at the kids.

"Right here." I assured her, holding out the slips of paper.

"Alright." She leaned down & grabbed a stack of menus. "Follow me to the 'Deep Blue' room."

"'Deep Blue' room?" Griffon & I repeated.

The waitress nodded. "The room is really beautiful. Only used for the most important guests."

We sighed. When we got to the room & were lead through the double doors, the kids gasped. The walls were covered by fish tanks, filled with fish, easily grabbing their attention.

Griffon went over to a seat & sat down. "They'll get bored sooner or later. Just sit down."

I looked around at everyone seated. It was just me, Griffon, her sisters & their husbands & kids so far, minus Megan. Aria walked in with Juliet next. "Hey peoples." Her face fell a little when she looked around. "Aw, not everyone's here."

"Who else is there?" I asked, picking a breadstick out of a basket on the table. "And where's Zane?"

"There was supposed to be a few other people." Aria answered. "And Zane's dad got sick or something. I don't care, the guy hates me."

The door opened again & three couples came in. Griffon jumped from her seat & ran over to one of the girls, hugging her tightly. "Peppy! Oh my God, what're you doing all the way back in Amestris."

"Yeah, don't say hi to me. That's fine." The guy beside her said, putting a little girl down.

Griffon pinched his cheek. "Hello, Zach."

"Grant, Travis, long time no see." I waved from my seat.

Kari got up, too. She walked over to Lillian. "Hey, Lily!"

"Hi, Kari!" She looked down at Johnny, who was crawling on the floor. "Who's this?"

"Johnny, my son." Kari answered. "He doesn't like sitting in highchairs unless there's food in front of him, so I have to let him crawl around to avoid a temper tantrum."

Lillian bent down & picked him up. "Aww, how adorable."

"What about us?" Devon wondered. The rest of the kids were gathered around the newcomers, probably wondering who the heck some of these people were.

Travis walked over to D.G. "Hey again Digit." He greeted.

"Hi Uncle Travis." D.G. replied. "You need to see the others."

"The others?" He wondered.

"Devon, Marc & Corey." She grabbed his hand & pulled him over to the twins, & then to Griffon, patting her stomach. "And that's Corey."

"Oh, I see. Heights curse." he guessed.

"Yeah. Well, I see what Aria was up to now." Griffon leaned back. "So, who're these cuties?" She asked, pointing to the new children that had came with our old friends.

"Well," Pepper patted the blonde girl's head. "This is Terri Brahler."

"Our sons are Kyle & Stan." Lillian commented, pointing them out.

Travis looked down. "We _had_ a son & a daughter."

"What happened?" Grant wondered, looking up from Soleil.

"SIDS." Mystic answered. "Twice. Imagine the possibility."

Marc looked to his twin. "What's SIDS?"

Devon smirked, knowing the answer. "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It's when the baby suffocates in it's sleep, usually within the first few months after being born."

"Oh." Marc said. "That's really sad."

Aria cleared her throat. "Well, I have to say that there are two families moving into the neighborhood. Grant & Travis are moving back to Central."

"We want to, but our work just doesn't let us." Zach pointed out. "We have to move around a lot."

"Wouldn't it be better for your kid to be in a stable environment?" I wondered.

"We can't find anyone for her to stay with." Pepper answered.

Griffon took her seat again. "We have plenty of room at our place. How old is Terri?"

"Eight." Zach answered. "We adopted her. Her mom had cancer & was one of Pepper's friends, so we took her in when she died. The dad was long gone."

"So, she would be in second or third?" I asked.

Pepper looked down at the kids taking their seats. "Second, born in the later months."

"Well, she's welcome with us." Griffon smiled. I nodded in agreement.

For the whole dinner, someone always had something to say to keep a conversation going. I had to admit, Aria had a pretty good heart, inviting everyone to get together & all that.

After everyone finished eating, waiters came back out with desserts for the kids, the non-infant kids anyway.

Aria cleared her throat again & stood up. "Okay, & now for the second surprise of the night. The chef who was mainly cooking for you, of course, he didn't do it all, but he took care of most of it." She opened the doors & pulled Zane in.

"Way to go, man." Grant congratulated.

"You don't even know why you're congratulating him." Simon accused.

Grant shrugged. "Dude's a good cook."

"Glad you think so. Because I'm the owner of the restaurant." Zane announced. "You were my test group. The food was paid for by an anonymous person."

I raised a hand, & Zane pointed at me. "What's with the fish?"

"Exotic Wonderland, in case you didn't know, along with the Deep Blue room, are mentioned numerous times in the books written by our favourite author. She gave me permission, & practically encouraged me to base it on the restaurant in the Bock series." Zane explained.

Kari nodded. "I have to admit, it's a pretty good idea."

D.G. yawned. "I'm sleepy."

"I think it's time to go home." I suggested.

Griffon turned to Pepper. "Why don't you three stay with us for the night, to see if Terri might want to stay with us & go to school with D.G."

Pepper shrugged. "That's fine with us."

'Thank you again, Zane." Griffon said, picking Devon up. "Zach, would you mind getting Marc?"

"No problem." He picked the little boy up.

"Bye, guys. Come over tomorrow if you want." Griffon called.

I took D.G.'s hand & walked out with the triplets. All in all, it could've been worse.

As soon as we got home, I showed the Brahlers to a couple rooms & crashed in my own bed.

**Aqua's POV**  
I knocked on my parent's door. I had asked Marth to take me on a romantic date so I could tell him that I was pregnant I found out I was having a girl and I couldn't want to tell Marth.

"Aquanette you look nice" Mom said.

"Thank you Mom" I said. "How's Megan doing?" I asked concerned about my little sister.

"She's doing a lot better. She and Rayne have been working on some things for the second movie so it's taken her mind off things" Mom said. "Megan, Rayne Aqua and River's here" Mom called up to them. Megan and Rayne walked downstairs.

"Hello little nephew" Rayne said taking River from me. "See he likes me so I'm his favorite Aunt" Rayne said.

"Rayne don't start with me" Megan said putting her hands on her hips.

"I'll be back at about 11 and I expect him to be asleep" I said.

"Don't worry he will" Megan said. "Now go tell Marth about that baby"

"I will bye guys" I said before walking off. I climbed into the car and Marth was at the driver's seat.

"Ready to go love?" Marth said.

"Yep" I said.

We arrived at a nice restaurant and of course being the Furher's daughter we were seated quickly.

"Well Aqua I was surprised when you said you wanted to go out I mean our anniversary isn't until a few weeks" Marth said.

"I wanted to make this night special for us. I've got great news" I said.

"Really? What is it?" Marth asked.

"Marth I'm pregnant" I said with a small smile.

"What?" Marth said smiling.

"We're going to have a baby. I went to the doctor and we're having a little girl just like you wanted" I said.

"Oh Aqua" Marth said cupping my face in his hands. "This is wonderful. I'm going to be a father again. I feel the exact same way when you told me you were pregnant with River" Marth said before giving me a small kiss. "I love you"

"I love you too" I said smiling.

**Roy's POV  
**"Why are we doing this?" I asked, zipping up a bag.

"Oh, not we, you." Riza corrected, shoving another bag into my arms. "Someone still has to watch Megan, Rayne, & Little You."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" I asked, shooting a glare in her direction.

"Just a little." A voice came from the doorway.

"Okay, a lot." Another claimed, giggling.

D.G. & her friends came in & jumped onto the bed. "So, Bunic, you ready to take us camping?"

I sighed. "Not really."

"Great! So, can we go now?" Jamie wondered, hopping up & down in her seat on the bed. She was the one who wanted to go in the first place, but her dad & his fiancée were busy planning their wedding. "I've been waiting months for this trip."

I grumbled, picked up my bag & pointed to the door. "Let's just get this weekend over with."

"Don't be that way, Mr. M. Camping rocks." Cain said, tugging on his bomber jacket. "My brother, Glitch, takes me all the time with Az."

"Glitch?" Riza repeated.

Cain shrugged. "Heh, it's a nickname. His name's Gordon, but everyone calls him that 'cause he has severe muscle spasms & short-term memory loss. He repeats things he says a few minutes after he says them, like a music player with a glitch. You know, a certain part of the song gets repeated over & over."

I shook my head. "Let's just go!" I ordered, guiding them to the door.

"See you Monday!" Riza called as we left.

By said Monday, I was tired, I regretted agreeing to take them, & I had a severe case of poison ivy in an place unmentionable.

"That was cool." D.G. commented on the drive home from the campsite. I looked at their reflections in the rearview mirror.

"I can't believe you've never been camping." Jamie said. She tugged at her jacket, trying to get it off.

Cain nodded. "I've been going once a month since I was four. How come you've never been?"

D.G. shrugged. "Mama really tries to go camping, but something comes up every time we set a date. She's an outdoorsy person, so we do go on nature trails in the woods a lot."

"That's just sad." Jamie sighed.

"Okay, we're almost there." I informed them.

Cain tugged at his bomber jacket again. The weird kid barely took it off the whole time, despite the weather. "So, you guys glad we got to spend an extra day in the woods?"

"Yeah, it's great. I'm a little tired, though." D.G. mentioned, yawning. "Mind if I take a nap, Bunic?"

"Go right ahead." I replied. She slipped down lower in her seat & closed her eyes. Cain's bomber jacket was soon draped over her, but the boy no less. I glared into the mirror & turned my attention back to the road.

**Riza's POV  
**Aqua and I were sitting in the living room waiting for Roy and Dorothy to come home. We decided to play hearts to pass the time. Little Roy was sitting in Aqua's lap with his head on Aqua's growing tummy. He always did that when one of the girls were pregnant even when Griffon was pregnant with Dorothy when he was a little baby he did that.

"So how do you think you father did?" I asked.

"He's probably tired as hell and he probably got poison ivy" Aqua said with a shrug.

"Megan I'm so nervous!" Rayne yelled from upstairs.

"Rayne calm down! You're going to do great!" Megan said back to her.

"Yea but what if I fall down?" Rayne asked.

"If you fall then Me, Ozzie and Thomas will be right there to catch you" Megan said. "Now would you please get dressed we're going to be late" Megan said.

"What's going on with her?" Aqua asked putting a card down.

"Rayne got a spot at the young performers night at the teen club. She was all excited when she came home but poor thing's been nervous since last night" I said shaking my head and putting a card down.

"That's nice I remember when Flannery use to get those. I've never heard Rayne sing though" Aqua said putting another card down.

"By the way Megan makes it sound Rayne's a very good singer" I said putting another card down.

"I'm home" Roy said as he walked in carrying Dorothy

"Hey did you guys have fun?" I said standing up and giving him a hug.

"In a way yes" Roy said putting Dorothy down.

"Okay how do I look?" Rayne said as she walked downstairs. She was wearing a black strapless dress that flowed at the waist and black high heel boots that stop mid calf.

"You look fine" Megan said wearing a white blouse, black pants, and black high heels. "Now c'mon we're going to be late" Megan said pulling her out the door. "I'll see you later Papa" Megan said.

"Daddy did you guys have fun?" Aqua asked.

"We had lots of fun" D.G. Said.

"Well that's good. See Roy I told you it wouldn't kill you" I said.

"I guess not" Roy said with a shrug. "Hey Aquanette can I ask you a question?" Roy said sitting down next to her.

"Sure Daddy" Aqua said with a shrug. "What is it?" Aqua asked. Roy then whispered something in her ear which made Aqua giggle a little.

"Don't laugh can you fix this?" Roy said.

Aqua let out another giggle. "Yea Daddy go and see Flannery she knows the recipe for curing poison ivy" Aqua said before giggling again.

"Thank you" Roy said. "Riza honey I'll be right back" Roy said before giving me a small kiss and walking out.

"What's up with him?" I asked.

"Well he got-" Aqua said before looking down at the two little eyes staring back at us. "Come here" Aqua said. I leaned in and she told me what happened with Roy.

"Really?" I said smiling a little. Aqua nodded her head and both busted out laughing earning weird looks from the little ones.

**Megan's POV  
**The next morning I walked downstairs to check the mail. It was mainly bills and a magazine I ordered but I found something else. It was white with Japanese letters on it and it had a knot made of Black and White cords. I really didn't know how to open it so I took it to Rayne since she liked the Japanese culture.

"Hey Rayne wake up right quick" I said shaking her a little.

"What is it Meggie?" Rayne said sitting up and rubbing her scruffy hair.

"Can you open this for me?" I said handing her the envelope.

"Sure" Rayne said taking it from me. She opened it by loosening the cords she opened the top and pulled out a picture. "Oh no" Rayne said looking at the picture.

"What is it?" I asked sitting down next to her.

"Megan this is a funeral envelope you send it to someone you announce that someone has passed" Rayne said.

"So who died?" I asked.

"The twins' grandfather" Rayne said holding up the picture.

"Oh Flannery and Aqua are going to be devastated" I said. It was a known fact that the twins didn't take well to death. When our dogs died they couldn't stop crying for weeks. We think it's because losing their biological parents at such young ages. "So does it say when the funeral is?" I asked.

"It looks like 3 weeks from now in Barcelona" Rayne said reading the English part of the envelope.

"Well I better tell Mama and Papa" I said standing up.

**Jamie's POV  
**Cain, Terri - who had started school here last week - & I sat at our desks, staring across the classroom at D.G.

"She's been that way since we got back from camping." I said quietly. "You think she got bit or something."

"I don't think so. It's not like your allergy to poison sumac. She's just sleepy. It happens." Cain replied. "Hasn't she been trying to help with your dad's wedding? She's probably just tired."

"Ms. Mustang, Mr. Timan, please pay attention." The teacher called. "I advise you do the same, Ms. Brahler."

We jumped in our seats & turned back to her. "Yes, ma'am."

She turned back to the board & I sighed. My eyes drifted down to the bridal magazine I had snuck away from Tammy. "Who do you think they'll pick for the flower girls?"

"Probably Tammy's sisters, right?" Cain wondered.

"That's what I thought, but Tammy says that she wants Devon to do it, & Marc to be the ring bearer. A classic wedding, since Griffon is pretty much the only one who's still Jewish." I smiled at one of the pictures.

The teacher clapped her hands. "Okay, class, head down to the art room. Don't forget your supplies & projects. Come back right after so that you don't miss the buses home."

D.G. reached into her desk & pulled out her art kit & folder. Cain got his out & handed his kit to Terri & me. "Here, you can use mine."

"We can share, like always." I told him. "Thanks."

Art class sucked for two reasons. One) The teacher graded us on how our art looked. Two) I suck at drawing. I was good at sculpting & molding & carving, but I can't even draw a decent stick person.

D.G., on the other hand, was the best in class. She got lessons outside of school from Aunt Aqua. But she was good even before that. Now she liked drawing cartoons, especially when she had to draw more than one person. Marc & Devon made number 2 on her list of things to draw.

"Today, we offer work in painting or sculpting. I'm giving you a choice of the two. Sculptors to the left, painters to the right." The art teacher instructs, mentioning from the table of modeling clay to the table of brushes & bottles of paint. "I trust you will choose the side better fitted for your talents."

She walks over to the phone as it rings. "Hello? Alright." She covers the mouthpiece & turns to me. "Jamie, you're mom's picking you up today."

"Which mom?" I growl. I don't mean to be a grouch, but most teachers are smart enough not to bring the subject up. She was the idiot who brought it up at least twice a week, by having us make 'family portraits' & pictures of our parents & looking at mine & saying 'Where's your mom?' even though she knows my answer is 'I don't know, but she should be in Hell.'

"Uh, T-Tammy." She stutters in response.

I turn back to the modeling clay with a nod. I grabbed the colours of clay that I needed & one of the tools out on the table before going to my regular table to sit with Cain, Terri & D.G.

"Are you okay, D.G.?" Terri blurted suddenly, watching D.G. drop her pencil after holding it in one place for a while.

"Yeah, I just can't focus." D.G. answered. "But, I need this grade, you know I suck at everything else."

"I think I've heard daddy talking to Megan about her having that problem. Maybe we could stop by Nana & Papaw's later to talk to her about it." I offered. Rolling up my sleeves & pulling my curly locks up in a ponytail so I could work. "It might be part of the family disease."

"I hope not." D.G. replied. She picked up her pencil & started working, mumbling something about painting after she knew what to paint.

**Megan's POV  
**I sat down in my room & sighed, hugging my Tweek plushie. There was fan-mail to read & reply to, scenes at the movie set to make, & books to write. I smiled at myself, despite the fact that I was, once again, overworked. It just meant that I was beating it. They couldn't call me slow because I was skipping grades & head of my class. They couldn't call me lazy, because I had something to do every second of the day. And they couldn't call my undependable because there were people that needed me. Screw you, fucking doctors! I beat it!

I blink & looked to the mirror on the vanity. "Wow. I'm a seriously messed up, fruit loop." I laughed. "But I'm not stupid, & I don't twitch or spasm, & no one can say that I have it, because I don't let it show."

Griffon had accepted her disability & Kari embraced the schizophrenic voices she heard, but didn't do what they said. The older twins knew what was coming for them, even if they didn't have our family's curse. Freddie was healthy, since whatever we had only effected the females. I wouldn't accept or embrace it. There was nothing about my disease that I couldn't help. I had my inhaler, my meds, my sanity, & my work ethic.

Bunica beat it, too. I knew I could.

But, I knew that D.G., Devon, Jamie, possibly even one of Kari's future kids, would all have the same disease. But then again, it could've mutated to effect males, too. Soleil & Aqua's baby would be _so_ happy if they knew what they weren't going to have to go through.

In case you didn't know, I was diagnosed with ADHD, but I beat it. I proved that the disease wasn't an excuse it be stupid. I was the exact opposite of people diagnosed.

I headed down to go visit Griffon & make sure none of her kids showed symptoms.

"Oh, hey May. Come on in." Devon smiled, opening the door. I ruffled her noir hair & went in.

Griffon waved me over to the kitchen. "Come to check in on us?

"Yeah, but I'm guessing everything's fine." I replied.

"So far, no curse, so good." She laughed. "It'll show up soon, though."

"Unfortunately." I sat down at the bar in their kitchen. "Can I grab a snack while I'm here?"

"Yeah, chips & soda fine?" She asked, opening the fridge for a couple cans of pop.

I nodded. "What? No pretzels?"

Griffon pointed at me & narrowed her eyes. "Those are mine!"

"It was just a joke." I shrugged it off & reached over the bar to grab the beg of chips from the shelf.

"GAH!" Someone yelled. Griffon & I turned & stared at Devon, who had her hands over her mouth & was blushing furiously. "Why did I just freak out like that?" She asked in a panicked tone.

"Tourettes syndrome." Griffon answered almost immediately.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"One of Bunic's sisters had it." She replied. "But, she wasn't one of - you know - us."

"I thought it would she up in Dorothy before it started effecting Devon." I commented.

"True, but she has been showing symptoms of your disease. And sleep apnea." Griffon confessed.

"Let's hope you're still around to help them." I said. "Remember? Her condition started getting worse at twenty-five. One year away, sister dearest."

'Sister dearest' was only used whenever we were dead serious & concerned.

Griffon nodded. "We can only hope."


	11. FF: XI

**Thatch's POV**  
Turns out, Devon's tics, which we thought would ruin her dreams of singing publicly, were reduced to just slapping her leg & stomping her foot instead of random yelling that interrupted her songs during the first week of her Tourettes.

Figures, the girl who like everything about her to seem average & normal was excited to have something that made her stand out.

Marc, however, was surprisingly upset that there was something that set the two apart. "Why does she have to be sick? Why can't we be the same?"

I ruffled his hair. "Because if you were the same, you would be a girl."

Marc shuddered & sighed. "Thank God, we're different."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I replied.

Griffon & Aria walked through the door, grabbed my arms & dragged me into the living room. "Hey Thatch!" Aria smiled.

"Why was I just dragged through my house? By two surprisingly strong women, no less." I wondered, standing up right.

"Marc & Devon are going to be five in a few months. Right?" Aria asked.

I nodded. "So what?"

"Next year, they start a program for students grades kindergarten to first at CSPA." Griffon explained. "And Aria thought it would be a good idea to enroll Devon & Marc."

"I guess that would be okay." I agreed. "They do have a lot of talent."

"Told you he would agree." Aria smirked & high-fived Griffon. "Told you."

Griffon shrugged & waved goodbye. "Well, I have to go to the storage locker to get some of Marc's old baby clothes. Bye. See you later."

**D.G.'s POV**  
I yawned again & dipped my brush in paint. I was so close to finishing my painting. Cain & Terri still had a whole other day to finish & Jamie was done yesterday.

"D.G., have you been getting enough sleep?" Terri asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" I replied.

Cain laughed a little. "You're painting my face."

I rubbed my eyes with my hand, keeping the brush moving with the other, & looked up. I pulled my brush away from Cain & chuckled nervously. "Sorry, I'll go get you a wet paper towel so you can clean that up."

Terri pulled out her compact & handed it to Cain. "I like it. She wasn't even paying attention, but she could still manage to paint that dragon pretty well on your cheek."

I blushed & went over to the sink to grab some paper towels & turned on the faucet. I was going to be this way until I got my tonsils removed. Sleep apnea is when you can't breath whenever you sleep, so you wake up for air, even if you don't know it. It makes you even more tired than when you went to sleep & is a main contributor to insomnia. Apparently, getting your tonsils removed is supposed to help the air get to your lungs or something like that.

Running back over to the table, I reached over to hand Cain the paper towels, but he pushed them away.

"It's okay. This dragon is pretty cool." He said. "Even in your sleep, you're still one of the best."

"I'll be sure to remember that when I'm trying to sell my work." I scoffed.

**Megan's POV**  
As much as I felt sorry for the older twins, I couldn't miss any days on the set. Mind you, the average of time we spend working there was sixteen hours, not to mention the time spent at Mr. Rivera's studio to make the soundtrack.

I nearly fainted when the members of Busted actually showed up to record a song & were cheering for Thomas & Rayne's relationship & complimenting her singing.

"So, what do you do?" Thomas' brother asked when he was done talking to him.

"I wrote the books this movie was based on." I said halfheartedly. Not many people believed that.

"Yeah, right." He scoffed. You see?

Thomas punched Matt in the shoulder. "It's true, man. I've known her for a while & actually peaked over her shoulder a lot when she was writing the last book."

"No kidding?" Matt asked. "Well, lucky you. You must have a lotta talent kid."

"I'm sixteen, not a _kid._" I replied.

"Yeah, she doesn't like being called a kid either." Ozzie called, looking up from his sketchpad. "I advise against it."

Rayne was too busy in the studio to join the conversation. Her song was a little dark & scary, but considering the way she sounded, it was both comforting & threatening. You didn't know how to react.

"_Are you scared to lose  
Are you afraid to chose_  
_Are you afraid you'll win  
Are you scared of your own sin"_

"_Are you scared to forgive  
Are you afraid to live  
Are afraid to die  
Do you think it's all a lie"_

"_To live  
When you think you're dying  
To laugh  
When you feel like crying  
To stand  
When you think you're gonna fall  
It's only fear after all  
It's only fear after all"_

"_Are you afraid you'll be alone  
Are you scared to pick up the phone  
Are you scared of the past  
Do you think that you might crash"_

"_Do you think you're in too deep  
Are you afraid to sleep  
Are you scared there's no stability  
Are you afraid of your own fragility" _

"Man, I love that song." Ozzie commented.

Matt shrugged. "It's okay." He looked at his watch. "Oh, I have to meet up with the other guys. I'll catch ya back at the house, I guess." With that he ran out the door.

"So, Thomas, if you've been offered so many contracts, why won't you sing or accept one?" I wondered.

Thomas looked at the floor as his cheeks tinted a light red. "I don't really like a lot of attention."

"And yet you still get everyone's heads to turn. Go figure." Ozzie joked.

**Aqua's POV  
**I was laying on the bed before I let out a groan. I was 5 months in so I was officially on maternity leave which I hated!

"Marth!" I said with a whine.

"Yes honey?" Marth said as he walked in.

"Can you go and get me some chocolate covered pretzels and a cheeseburger. Yes! A cheeseburger! Pretty, pretty, pretty please" I asked sitting up some.

"Of course Aquanette" Marth said. "I'll be right back" Marth said walking towards the door.

"Marth wait" I said whining again. I hated when I did that! Especially to Marth it makes me seem like a child to my husband.

"Yes Aqua?" Marth said turning around.

"Kiss me good bye" I said holding out my arms.

Marth let out a smile before walking back over to me. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. He was about to break away but I put my hands on his head to keep him near. I started to moan as the kiss got more passionate but as soon as the passion started it ended when Marth broke away.

"Don't worry babe I'll be right back" Marth said.

"Marth can you do me one more favor?" I asked.

"Yes Aqua?" Marth asked.

"Can you bring River to me I don't want to be lonely" I said.

"Sure" Marth said before walking out. He walked back in with a sleeping River. "He was taking a nap" Marth said placing my little prince in my arms.

"He sleeps like me so he'll be fine. Marth?" I asked.

"Yea?" Marth asked.

"Am I being annoying?" I asked.

"No of course not. I've gotten use to it from the first pregnancy. You just ask for anything you want and I'll be happy to get it for you" Marth said before kissing my forehead and walking out.

"River you have the bestest daddy in the world" I said softly kissing his forehead.

**Megan's POV**  
"Okay, well, she won't be tired all the time." I offered. Kari, Griffon & I were sitting in Griffon's living room to discuss D.G.'s surgery.

"Yeah, but if you remove her tonsils, she's more prone to disease." Kari insisted.

"Why aren't the twins here to help with this?" I asked.

Griffon grumbled, "The twins probably already know what we're talking about. They know everything. They knew mama was gonna have a baby, they knew Kari was my twin, they knew why she wasn't with us. They can't know everything. I'm not going to let them know what they don't need to, not anymore."

"What could you possibly keep from them now?" I wondered.

Kari & Griffon looked at each other before sighing & shaking their heads.

"What?" I looked from twin to twin.

"Universal twins." They answered.

"See, this is what's strange about you two." I laughed, grabbing my keys. "You always do things together." I helped them out the door & into the car. "Griffon, you know you're a week early."

"Yes, I realize that." She growled.

"Just putting that out there." I couldn't help but smile at her. It was just really weird that they would end up having their babies at the same time. I pulled out my phone to call Rayne & Ozzie.

"Hello?" The two answered.

"You guys & Thomas totally owe me twenty bucks. Each!" I told them. "They're heading to the hospital now, & they will kill you if you tell Flannery or Aquanette or their husbands."

"You got it. I have to take Juliet there for an X-Ray anyway." Ozzie answered. "Crazy kid got hurt in jazz class."

"Thomas & I are helping set up at the studio for recording tomorrow, but we can slip out." Rayne said. "Or we can trick Manny into doing it with his blue haired vixen."

"I don't care, just make sure the big twins don't find out." I told them. "I have to call the daddies. Bye!"

"Hello?" Simon asked.

"Baby time!" I called cheerfully. "I've got them on their way to the hospital as we speak."

"Okay, I'm heading out now." Simon replied. There was a crashing sound on the other end of the line. "Oops."

"Don't break everything, Sci-Fi." I warned him.

"Baby time?" Thatch asked when he answered the phone.

I smiled a little bigger. "You got it, dude. Wait, you're working the baby maker floor today, aren't you?"

Thatch laughed. "Yeah, I'll go sign Griffon & Kari in."

"Thanks." I closed the phone again & sped up. I loved it when babies were born. I even got to see Marc & Devon's birth. It's so cool, even if RJ did faint when he saw.

**D.G.'s POV**  
"First off, they aren't incest, they're friendly. We all like each other, because unlike your family our parents aren't abusive drunks. Second of all, Tad isn't gay, he's metro-sexual, meaning he cares about his looks, not getting into other guys' pants. And lastly, don't think you're fooling anyone with your tough girl façade, because a real one will beat you down eventually." I said, stepping forward with every step Sierra took back. How dare she make fun of my family! Turns out her moms & my mom being enemies in high school apparently gratifies her thinking she can push me around & treat me like a dog, just like her moms treated mine.

"You can't talk to me that way!" Sierra hissed. "I could beat you to a pulp."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Yeah right, Sierra. Good luck."

Sierra jumped forward, knocking me to the grass, & held her fist in front of my face. "Come on, fight back."

I stared blankly at her, only looking away to signal Jamie & Cain to get a teacher, & took a breath. "I have no reason to fight you. The people you insulted probably have a few reasons, but I don't." I told her in a monotone voice. I was too tired to even bother fighting back, even if it was an easy win. It would also be a bad thing if I got suspended again.

"Sierra Sturgill." Mrs. Swan, the principal's voice called. "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"Mrs. Swan, I swear it wasn't me." Sierra began, scrambling to get off of me. "Dorothy started it."

"Get to my office, young lady." Mrs. Swan ordered. "I will deal with you as soon as I get back."

Cain helped me up. "Thanks, Tin man."

"D.G." Mrs. Swan began. "For once, you didn't fight back. I'm very proud of you. Try & keep it up."

"Of course." I replied. I wish I could say I wasn't lying through my teeth.

"Oh, & you & Jamie are leaving now. Your uncle is here. He says your aunts are having their babies." Mrs. Swan explained.

Jamie & I squealed. "Kari & mama are having their babies!" I shouted, running inside with Jamie on my heels.

"Simon, is it true?" Jamie asked, running out to the van & jumping in. "Is it true?"

Simon nodded. "Yep, you guys ready to go?"

I pulled the door closed & motioned for Simon to go, shouting to him in Romanian to 'Get his rear in gear.' I can't wait.

**Thatch's POV**  
"I thought you were going to have a boy." I told Kari, handing her the baby. "Instead, you brought little Abigail into the world."

"Abigail Harpi Milliken." Griffon sang, rocking Corey in her arms. "Doesn't it just roll off the tongue?"

"Tsk, tsk, sister. How long were you planning on hiding this?" A voice asked. I turned around to face the twins.

"I thought you were in Barcelona." Kari said. "Who told you about the babies?"

"No one. Haven't you learned, yet? You can't hide from a clairvoyant." Flannery insisted.

Griffon's eyes darkened noticeably & would've gone catty, but her eyes were always catty now. She passed Corey to Gale & stood up, ripping the IV's out before walking out the door.

"Griffon, you can't be off the IV." I warned. She ignored me & pushed past the twins. "Shit. Really?"

"Not in front of the children." Jamie scolded, covering Corey's ears. "Their little minds are easily influenced."

Flannery & Aquanette shrugged & started gushing over the universal twins.

I sighed & decided to leave her alone to cool down. After five minutes an old woman walked into the room. "Oh, hello."

"Uh, who are you?" Jamie asked.

"Leave." I ordered. "You know perfectly well that you're not welcome around the kids. Or around any of us for that matter, Nancy."

"You? What happened to that nice brunette boy?" Nancy wondered. "Ah, well, it doesn't matter."

"How does it not matter?" Kari asked.

"Under court of law, you & your sister have been seen unfit parents." Nancy smirked. "And custody has been turned to me."

I stood up straight. "How are they unfit parents?"

Nancy scoffed. "A new law was passed a few weeks ago, you know that. People with mental disorders are to be tested to see if they are fit to nurture children. Until they take the tests, I have every right to take them."

Gale hugged Corey & Marc & Devon wrapped their arms around each other. Simon's & Kari's grips tightened on their children. "You're not getting our kids until we're forced to." Simon argued.

"Thought you might say that." She hissed. She reached into her bag & pulled out a thin stack of paper. "You are ordered by the court to hand over your children."

Marc, Devon, & Gale shook their heads. "We don't wanna leave."

Jamie took Corey & Gale ran over to me. "Papa, I don't wanna go!"

I sighed & bent down to her eye level. "This'll be over in no time. You'll be home soon, but for now, you need to go with her."

When Nancy had left with the kids, which was after Griffon came back, Aqua spoke up. "I thought she was dead."

"Aqua!" Flannery scolded. "That's not nice."

"But it's what we're all thinking." Aqua objected.

Griffon sat down on the bed & hung her head. "God, dammit!" She yelled. "Why can't she just leave us _alone_?"

**D.G.'s POV**  
I was sitting in the lobby waiting for that evil woman to come and take me away with her. I didn't know her to long but I still hated her. I heard the clicking of heels thinking it was the woman but it was Auntie Aquanette.

"Auntie Aquanette when am I going to go home? I don't want to go with her" I said.

"I don't want you to go either but you won't stay for long if you listen to me" Aquanette said.

"Okay" I said sitting up more. My mama always said that Auntie Aquanette was great at coming up with evil plans.

"Okay whatever that woman says you do the opposite" Aquanette said.

"Will that work?" I said.

"Of course. See since Nancy is supposedly sane and your mother and Kari are supposedly mental if you're listening to your mother. Which you are right?" Aquanette said.

"Oh of course" I said quickly nodding my head.

"Good since you're listening to a supposedly mental person instead of a supposedly sane person. It'll show to the court that Griffon and Kari are good mothers. That will give us enough time to get a restraining order against Nancy for Griffon, Kari and you kids. Just remember this D.G. it may take a random woman to produce the baby but it takes a loving mother to love that baby. And Nancy is no where near a loving mother" Aquanette said with her finger extended. "Do you understand?"

"Yes I understand" I said nodding my head.

"Good and make sure the baby twins do the same and I don't leave her in the room alone with the babies no matter what happens" Aquanette said.

"Yes ma'am" I said as the woman said. I couldn't even say her name.

"Dorothy are you ready to go?" The woman said.

"No" I said but I still slid off the chair and followed her. I looked back at Auntie Aquanette who was giving me a thumbs up. I smiled slightly and gave her a thumbs up back

"Wow." I breathed when I got inside the huge house. "This place is huge!"

Marc & Devon stayed on the porch. "This place has a bad feeling to it." Devon whispered. Marc nodded in agreement.

I bit my lip & looked around. I knew I was eight, but I was still a kid. And as a kid, I had every right to miss what I didn't have, including Bell Ann & my cell phone. The witch took it when I had tried to call daddy.

""Hurry up." Nancy called. I slowed my pace considerably & gripped Abigail's & Corey's carriers.

"Jamie, thank God your parents are healthy." I whispered, looking up to the ceiling. "And, God, I know my mama & Kari are good people. Please don't put them through this mess."

**Kari's POV**  
"What is your mental disease?" Dr. Dorian asked, keeping his eyes on the clipboard in his hands.

"Paranoid Schizophrenia." I answered.

"Where do you work?"

"I own the Playmates Daycare Center."

"So, you are constantly surrounded by children?"

"Both older & younger than my own."

"And when school ends?"

"We have a summer program for kids twelve & under."

"Have you ever had days where you cannot keep control of your disease?"

I nodded. "Yes, on those days, I try to stay away from anyone I might hurt or anything I might use to hurt myself & others."

"Have you ever tried to kill anyone?"

"Twice." I answered slowly.

Dr. Dorian looked up in surprise. "When & how?"

"When I was six, before I was diagnosed, I tried to drown my sister & when I was fifteen, I threw a screwdriver at my friend that just barely missed."

"Have you ever tried to kill yourself?"

"Yes." I said quietly.

Dr. Dorian's eyes widened. "When?"

"When I first had to leave my mom & dad to live with my grandmother."

"Have you ever attempted to harm your children or the children at your work?"

"No."

"Do you take your medicine as scheduled?"

"Yes."

Dr. Dorian nodded. "Well, I will contact you tomorrow to see if you can have custody of your children back."

I nodded, unhooked from the device I had been connected to & left. Instead of going home, Griffon & I drove to mama & papa's house to talk to someone.

When we opened the door, there were obscenities being shouted in Romanian from the living room. Naturally, Griffon followed the sound & stopped just outside to watch Megan's tantrum. Her eyes were pitch black - which meant she was extremely pissed. Ozzie was sitting on the floor, picking up pieces of a broken lamp off the ground.

"I think I see smoke coming out of her ears." Griffon whispered.

I laughed a little, despite myself. Megan turned to us & her eyes flashed from black to blue & welled up with tears.

I walked over & gave her a hug. "Calm down, sis. We'll have our kids back in no time."

"It's not just that! She's ruining their lives." Megan cried, tears streaming down her face. "They're being tainted by her evil soul."

Ozzie looked up at us. "She doesn't _have_ a soul." He insisted. Megan completely ignored him.

"She's the devil in person!" Megan yelled, followed by another stream if Romanian curses. "She keeps trying to mess with us."

"Remember our bloodline, Megan." Griffon claimed. "Mustang's never give up, & D.G. has Mustang blood, along with the rest. They can take anything she throws their way. There's nothing we can do for now."


	12. FF: XII

Megan straightened up & smiled at the two of us. "You know what? We can finally do something while we're waiting to get your kids back."

"What?" I asked.

"Where have we been trying to go, but haven't because you can't find anyone to watch the kids?" Megan wondered.

"We are not doing that." I told her. "We're actually going for the summer. With the kids."

"_If_ you get them back." Ozzie mumbled.

Megan lifted him up by the hair. "Excuse us. If you wanna talk to mama or papa, they left when Flannery called."

"Dammit, Flannery needs to mind her own fucking business." Griffon huffed. "I'm just gonna go home, Kari."

"Remember, no 'playing' until you get your operation." I called after her.

"Kari!" Griffon yelled. She stopped for a second the flip me the bird before continuing out the door.

I laughed, easily forgetting everything for a small moment. "Some things never get old." I followed her out & waved. "Hey, wait! You're my ride!"

**Roy's POV**  
I couldn't believe this! This whole time they've been here, no one ever got hurt & they never hurt anyone. Well, not fatally or due to their disorders, at least. How could they be considered unfit parents. If that were true, wouldn't their kids already have been taken away? Why on Earth is that woman bent on making my girls' lives miserable?

"Well, I am happy to say that your nieces are not considered a threat to their children. The kids can be picked up by them first thing in the morning." The man on the phone assured me.

"Wait. Nieces?" I asked.

"Yes, it says on this that their maiden names were changed back to Heights about…five years ago. I thought you knew." The man explained.

I sighed. "Thank you for the information. I'll be sure to tell them." I ended the call & quickly dialed Griffon's number.

"Hello?" Came a voice. "Lesser residence. Griffon speaking."

"Griffon, I have some news." I told her.

"Don't really care." She snapped. "I thought all laws went by the Furher for approval. You cost me my kids. Don't you pay any attention to the papers you sign?"

I pulled over on the side of the road & didn't answer for a few minutes.

"Well, Roy Mustang?" She hissed. "I'm waiting."

* * *

Apparently, DeCembEr-AnGeL-BaBY has lost interest in writing this or is just too busy. I just can't finish it myself. So, until we can continue, this is all I can & will post for the time being. Maybe one of you can continue this. (If anyone actually reads it at all) Just let either me or DAB know if you do. Thank you.


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